If Only
by GreekLetter
Summary: Modern AU where Blake starts a new job working retail for the most successful technology company in Remnant. Along the way she encounters many people that become close friends, and one person that becomes more than they should be. If only she knew better, if only she could've been more honest with herself. It's slow burn Monochrome. Rated T for occasional language.
1. New Job Same Blake

Chapter One.

"Tell me about a time where you went above and beyond the expectations of your current role for a customer."

Dear Gods. You knew this was coming. You've never been good at interviews. Much less group interviews. And now this manager with grey shaggy hair and a coffee cup is staring you down, waiting for you to answer. You quickly suck in an exasperated breath while taking one last glance at your fellow interviewees.

"Well, there was one time I had a customer that had none of their stuff backed up on their computer and she was crying. I started to get a little nervous because she was so upset, so I just asked her if it was okay for me to ask what was wrong." The man lifts his eyes from the steaming coffee for a moment, you take it as a silent urge to continue. "And she ended up telling me that her son had recently passed away in an accident and all of his photos were on that computer, that wouldn't turn on, and she was scared she had lost all of it. So I tried to get the computer to turn back on, but I couldn't. But I knew that I couldn't just give up on her without trying as much as I knew how." You paused to take in a quick breath before continuing. And you get nervous that you're rambling.

"Ah yes, Miss.." He looks down at the paper he's been taking notes one throughout the entire interview, "Belladonna. So how did you take this above and beyond? If a machine won't power on, there are very limited options."

At this point, you feel like you've actually died of embarrassment, and your soul is floating out and away from your body. Everyone in the circle is staring at you. One guy looks smug, knowing that you've choked so he's one step closer to getting hired.

"I took the hard drive out of the computer and I put it in the freezer in the break room refrigerator overnight."

The gentleman raises one eyebrow and sets down his mug, leaning in. You seemed to have gained his full attention. "Continue, please."

"Well, freezing the drive allows for additional time for the mechanical components to heat up when they begin spinning. Which allowed me to have the extra time to pull the data off of the failing hard drive and onto an external storage device. So I saved it. All the data."

"Interesting." He takes a few notes on his paper and meets your eyes once again. "And how did the situation resolve?"

"With the customer?"

"Yes. You seem to have resorted to rather unorthodox methods, some would say innovative perhaps."

"All the other repair technicians thought I was crazy for doing it. But there were no company rules against it. And I told the customer I was going to do as much as I knew how, and to the best of my ability. So I would do it all over again. Seeing the look on her face was worth all the effort I spent trying."

"Hmm. Very well." He picks up his pen and begins writing furiously in an empty box towards the bottom of the page with your name on top. "Thank you all for your time this afternoon. This concludes our interview. I wish you all the best of luck. But the next group of applicants is arriving so I must say farewell to you all. Glynda will reach out to you all in a few days time with our decisions."

You stand up and begin walking across the outdoor mall area where you met up for the interview and you see your roommate, Sun, quickly walking your way. You can tell from the speed of his walk and the swishing of his tail that he's nervous as well. He is interviewing later in the afternoon.

"Hey Blake, how'd it go?"

"I'm not really sure. I only got asked one question. And the manager guy, I think he said his name is Ozpin, he's very hard to read. Just sips on his coffee and writes things down on his interview packet the whole time. But the questions are pretty standard it seems. Most people got asked two or three questions, but he only asked me one." You shrug, not really sure how to take it. Could be that he liked what he heard in your answer, or that he didn't like it to the point where he didn't want to hear any more.

"Damn, well you've been a really good repair supervisor for like four years, so I'm sure you impressed him at least a little bit."

"We just need to impress him enough to make sure we can pay our rent." You try to help Sun shake off his anxiety by making him laugh.

"If that's not the Gods' honest truth. Well, I better get to it. Wish me luck!"

"Not that I need to. You've always known how to talk to anyone and everyone. But good luck anyways."

"Alright, I'll see you at home later tonight." As he brushes past you he reaches out and swats at one of your Faunus ears.

"Hey now, those are private property. No touching." You hear him laugh as he trots off towards the main building for his interview.

—

The next few days feel nerve wracking. You haven't heard anything but it's only been two days so far. Sun hasn't heard anything either, but said he felt he did well in the interview.

"At least we finally finished unpacking every single box. Only took us two and a half weeks."

You check to make sure the frame you just hung on the wall is straight and step back to admire it.

"Yeah, I know. I just wish we'd hear back from Scroll so that we can stop worrying."

"The anticipation is killing me too. You know what else is killing me?"

You cross your arms and look over at him, "What would that be?"

"Student loans."

"Why on Remnant did you even have to bring those awful things up?" You roll your eyes and let out a whiny and displeased sound. "It just reminds me of how I spent four years going to school for something that I didn't want to do forever."

"Oh come on. You never want to use that biology degree and make papa Belladonna proud?" He knows exactly where to hit you to make you bleed, metaphorically.

"Not really, no." You flop down onto one of the armchairs in the living room and look out into the sunroom through the sliding glass doors. "Anyways, we both know that you are the one that is obsessed with plants."

"I do love my plants." He looks at the various items in his miniature botanical garden in admiration.

"Must be one of those plant gays, because you definitely aren't a cooking gay. That's for sure." Before you can even begin laughing at your own joke you hear the pillow flying through the air.

"To be fair, it was only one time," the look on your face tells him to pick his next words carefully ".. maybe two that I was unsuccessful in the kitchen."

"Sun, you blew up my glass baking dish and it burnt a hole through my kitchen rug and the hardwood flooring. You're lucky it didn't take your eye out." By now you can't hold the laughter in. The lower half of your face is buried in your shirt sleeve to hide the volume of your laugh.

"Yeah, well you killed a Vacuoan cactus! I didn't even know those things could die."

"They sure do, if you forget to water it for five months. Boom, dead." Now Sun has joined you and is doubled over on the edge of the couch trying to catch his breath from laughing so hard.

The ringing of your scroll ceases the laughter as you glance at the screen. It's the Scroll store number. Your eyes meet in mild terror and maybe kind of excitement.

"Quick! Answer it!" He's wilding waving his arms as he sits up, wide eyed.

"Hello?" Your voice is shaky. Honestly, you may throw up a little.

"Hi, may I speak with Blake Belladonna, this is Glynda Goodwitch calling from Scroll."

"This is Blake."

"Oh, perfect. I was just calling because we have reviewed all the applications and interviews and we have decided that we would love to offer you a position here with us at Scroll as a repair technician."

She says a few other things, but your brain has stopped accepting information for the moment. All you can think about is finally being able to quit that absolute trash job you've managed to keep for the last four years. Freedom.

"We will be emailing you the orientation packet with all of your initial training information, as well as your hourly compensation amount and start date. Do you have any other questions for me, Miss Belladonna?"

"Other questions?" Do you? You have no idea. You're still shocked. You thought you bombed the interview. "No, I don't think so. Thank you again. I'll be looking forward to the email."

"Alright, we will be in touch soon, enjoy the rest of your evening."

"You as well." You hear her light hum in affirmation before the call disconnects.

You sit there in the chair with your hands folded in your lap for a minute, letting your mind wrap itself around what just happened. But something blonde and annoying is waving wildly in your face so you have to travel back down to reality.

"So? What did she say? You know I don't have supersonic hearing like you."

"I got it. I got the job. I start in two weeks. They're going to email me a packet of information about orientation and training."

"That's awesome! I'm so happy for you! At least one of us got it, so we can escape the shit show we currently work at. I mean I was hoping that both of us would-"

He gets cut off by his own scroll starting to ring. It's the same number. You can see the shake in his fingers as he swipes up to answer the call. You try not to invade his privacy in case the news isn't so great. But with your Faunus ears you can't always help but hear a little more than you would like sometimes. Thankfully, you hear Glynda start the same path of conversation with Sun as she used with you. From what you could make out, Sun got offered a repair technician role as well.

You want to give him a little space so you walk into the kitchen to make some tea. Peppermint of course, it's your favorite. Once you've heated the water and located the right bag of tea you plop it down into your mug and let it steep. The patter of footsteps on the hardwood flooring draw closer, letting you know that Sun is making his approach.

"Girl, we are free! No more selling cameras for me, and no more trashy repair conditions and people wondering why their 200 lien computer doesn't run as fast as an 800 lien one." He looks at the counter and sees your tea. "Peppermint, nice."

"You know it. Are you going to call your mom and dad to give them the good news. I'm sure they'd love to hear about it."

"I will. I'm still not used to having to talk to them separately. It's weird not having them together anymore. What about you? You gonna tell your parents? Or Adam?"

Your mood sinks slightly when you hear his name. Ugh, Adam. You've been dating for about a year. And he randomly decided he was going to join the Navy, so he left. Since then your feelings, if you could even call them that, have dwindled into apathy. Your calls sound like one sided conversations with a cardboard box. Or when he does speak, it's just to complain. It drives you insane. He's supposed to be coming home, and by home it will likely be somewhere in Vale. You didn't want to even think about it. You weren't really sure how you could be so tired of something or someone that was never even around.

"Yeah probably not. I'll send my mom a message and she will tell my dad. Then he will either brush it off, or message me about my wasted potential and poor career choices. And Adam, well.. I prefer to pretend that that's not around these days. Like the dust you brush under the rug when you're done sweeping."

"Well, eventually you're gonna have to lift up the rug. And your dad isn't that bad. He's just a hardcore science dude."

"That's one way to put it. And I'd honestly rather burn down the house than lift up the rug at this point. But I mean honestly, your parents don't ever say anything to you about not choosing to work in your field of study?"

"Blake, I majored in communications and hospitality. This job will provide me an outlet to communicate hospitably."

Now it's your turn to roll your eyes. Grabbing the mug of fully steeped tea and the poetry book from your work bag as you make your way to your bedroom.

"Whatever you say, monkey boy. I'm gonna read for a little bit then go to bed. Congrats to you and your new job, sir. I will see you in the morning."

"Same, Blakey, same."

—

The scroll on your bedside table pings with the notification sound, a new email message has been received.

Swiping up you instantly recognize the sender as Glynda. Eagerly you tap on the attachment at the bottom that contains all the paperwork you need for orientation, as well as your hourly compensation rate. Damn, it's nearly double what you've been making at your current job. But you guess Scroll can afford it. They are the most successful company in all of Remnant. You sign all the documents and return them immediately.

You can't wait to get started at this new job. You need something new. Something better than what you have at your current job. Maybe this can be some kind of fresh start for you and Sun. From what you've seen in the stores, the other employees at Scroll seem really cool and down to earth.

Hopefully it's actually as good as your dreams would like you to believe.


	2. Welcome to Scroll

Chapter Two.

You and Sun are sitting at a round table in the conference room of a fancy hotel in downtown Vale. It's the last day of your week long out of store training for Scroll. It's been an interesting week. Mostly it's been trainers teaching you the company values, a little bit of product knowledge that you both already knew, and a lot of simulated situations. Role playing through make believe customer interactions.

Not exactly your favorite thing. But anything is better than your last job. When you tried to hand them your notice the day after you got offered the Scroll job, they refused to accept it. You ended up having to slide it under the door before you left at the end of your shift. That was all behind you now.

Tomorrow you finally start your in store training. While at the conference center, you and Sun had met three other new employees that would be working with you named Nora, Ren and Velvet. They seem pretty chill. Well, you don't think Nora has ever been chill in her entire life. But she is definitely someone that's fun to be around. Her fiery red hair matches her personality. As well as her strong desire to wear something pink almost every day. Ren and Velvet are way more reserved. Half the time, you can't tell if Ren is awake or just sleeping with his eyes open. Very zen. Velvet is just very quiet. She is a rabbit Faunus, and you can tell she is somewhat sensitive about her long and bouncy brown ears. You can't really say you blame her. Not all people are accepting of the Faunus. Even though it's illegal to discriminate against Faunus, there are still some ignorant humans around in this world.

You know the day is almost over when you see Glynda appear at the sidelines of the on going presentation about diversity in the workplace. She always shows up to conclude every day and set out the plan for the sequential day.

"Today you will be saying goodbye to a majority of your friends here at training. Tomorrow begins your individualized in store training. While I will not have the pleasure of continuing to guide you all, as I will return to my store at Beacon, I have certainly enjoyed watching you all begin your journeys here at Scroll. Have a good evening, and be prepared to report to your stores at 9am sharp tomorrow morning."

—

Once you make it into the store, the real training begins. You get your access to all the systems and learn the basics for how to sell things. How to clock in and out. How to check your company email. All the small things.

After that, you get separated into departments for training. All the sales people went with one trainer. You, Sun and Velvet went with this huge muscly dude named Yatsuhashi. But he asks you to just call him Yatsu. Apparently Velvet has known him for quite some time, since they were young. Oh well, doesn't really matter. You are here to learn and to work, not find out all your co workers' life stories.

The absolute worst thing you have to do is your initial introduction. All of you are going to have to stand up in front of everyone at the morning store meeting and introduce yourselves, tell everyone something that you like to do outside of work, and an interesting fact about yourself.

You are supposed to go right after Sun. Perfect. It will be like following a literal ray of sunshine. Your first impressions are sure to be lack luster.

While you wait for your turn, you take the opportunity to gaze around the room and start to familiarize yourself with the faces. There seems like there was at least 30 people there this morning. It's going to take a long time to remember all the names and put them with the right faces. There's one that caught your attention as you scanned the crowd. She has silver, almost white, hair that is pulled up into a ponytail that sits off to the side. She's filing her fingernails instead of paying attention to whatever Velvet is saying about herself. You turn to watch Sun as he introduces himself and says that he loves photography and enjoys spending his time taking care of the countless plants that have overwhelmed your sunroom. Your eyes eventually drift right back to where they were before, the girl with the white hair.

Things start to feel oddly quiet and you feel a small nudge against your shoulder. It's Sun. But Glynda is too quick for him to save you.

"Miss Belladonna, as fascinating as it is that Miss Schnee has opted to file her nails during the entire meeting, you do still have to participate."

With this blatant call out, the white haired girl looks up from her fingernails with a light blush across her cheeks. Knowing she's been caught, she turns her eyes towards the people standing up in front.

You clear your throat before you begin "Well um, I'm Blake Belladonna. When I'm not at Scroll I spend most of my time either cooking or reading. And I guess an interesting fact about myself would be.." you notice the white haired girl looking towards you, actually interested in what you're saying, "that I have an extensive tea collection." A few people clap, but you don't really need the applause. You're just glad it's over and done with.

—

Today is your first day actually working on the floor. You will be following around one of the repair coordinators today. And from what you've seen so far, the two of them are pretty neat.

"Hello! My name is Pyrrha, and this is Neptune." She points to the blue haired guy sitting a few seats away. "We are the repair coordinators here at Beacon. Since there's two of you, Blake and Sun right?" You both nod quickly in confirmation. "We are just going to pair off for the day and you guys can see what it's like for us in a normal day. Blake, I think we decided that you will follow me and Sun will follow Neptune."

"Okay. Cool. Try to keep out of trouble, Blake. Don't mess up." You shake your head, somewhat embarrassed by Sun's teasing as he leaves the room with Neptune.

"It isn't too terrible, I promise." The smile that Pyrrha gives is endearing. You can tell she's one of those people that has a personality that shines like a beacon in the night. Just a good person.

"I'm not really worried. I'm sure I can handle it."

"It does take a little bit to learn all the stuff but once you have it, you'll be good as gold." Okay, maybe she's a little too perky for your personal taste.

—

Pyrrha is actually a really awesome person. She showed you some shortcuts for repair systems and helped you learn how to create and complete repairs. You even took her up when she offered to have lunch with you. Turns out that she's from Mistral and her family still lives there. She's pretty close to her mom, but she moved here so she could learn how to find her own way.

You hold the large glass door open for Pyrrha as you return from lunch, following closely behind Pyrrha as she expertly navigates the packed store. There is no way you will ever get used to how busy this place is. Along the zig zaggy path Pyrrha has chosen, you spot the silvery haired girl from the meeting. She's animatedly chatting with a customer. Even through the thick crowd, your Faunus ears can pick up on the conversation. Her voice is friendly and she seems interested in what the customer is saying. But you can tell that something is off. Her eyes, which are an interesting shade of blue, betray her voice. You shake your head in an attempt to refocus your attention back to the job you are supposed to be doing.

"Have you met Weiss yet?"

"Who?"

"The girl you were watching just now. Her name is Weiss. She's in sales."

"Oh. No, I haven't met her. She has really nice hair though."

At this point Pyrrha is laughing. "I can introduce you to her if you want. Weiss is an interesting girl, to put it lightly. A little snobby, if you don't mind me saying."

"Ah well, I'm sure we will cross paths at some point. No need to rush. Especially if she's a little high maintenance."

"Such a kind way to put it. Now, for the second half of the day, we will be doing repair pickups and handling the phones. You ready?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"That would be a no, so let's get to it!" With that you follow Pyrrha back into the repair room and take a seat next to her at the desk. You switch out with Sun and Neptune as they prepare to take over other duties.

—

You watched Pyrrha answer a few phone calls. All easy stuff. You took out a few scrolls that were ready to be picked up.

After about three hours of nothing interesting happening, opportunity strikes. Corporate is calling about a customer complaint and Pyrrha wants you to sit in with her on the call. About 20 minutes in, the repair room door swings open and a tall girl with long blonde hair sticks her head through the crack in the doorway.

"Hey Pyrrha, do you need some help with pickups? There's not any appointments waiting right now so I can grab one or two for you."

As she pulls the phone away from her ear, you can hear the lovely hold music playing from the ear piece.

"If you could, that would be a great help." Always so kind.

"Cool." As the blonde girl steps into the room to find what she's looking for she notices you sitting on Pyrrha's opposite side. "Oh hey, you must be new. My name is Yang. I'm a repair tech." You grab the outstretched hand and shake it, only to have Yang tighten her grip as you feel a few of your fingers crack.

"I'm Blake. Pyrrha is teaching me some of the repair coordinator things, but eventually I should be out there with you guys."

"Awesome. I'll let you get back to it. Nice to meet you!" And with that, her long golden hair disappears just before the door clicks shut.

—

"Sorry this call is taking so long. If you want you can go ahead and take a break and I will finish this up."

"Are you sure? I don't mind waiting."

"No, it's fine. I'm just waiting for a confirmation code at this point. When you come back I can show you how to finish the repair order."

"Sounds good. I think I'm gonna go to the cafe down the street. Would you like me to bring you anything?"

"Oh no, thank you for asking though."

A little bell rings above the door of the cafe as it swings open and you step inside. It smells like coffee and pastries. There's a glass showcase for the food up at the registers and the menu hangs up on the wall behind the barista area. Quickly you scan the menu and find the item you are looking for and hop in line.

The first minute or so you don't really pay any attention to what is going on, but after three or four minutes of the line not moving, you lean to the side to see what is going on at the register. But you can hear it before you see it.

"I just want a salted caramel latte with almond milk, with a shot of vanilla flavor, no sugar, with a shot of espresso and I would like that iced. I don't see what the big deal is."

"Ma'am, we can't do no sugar because the vanilla and salted caramel flavors have sugar in them"

"Okay, well I just don't want any additional sugar added."

Now you begin to see what Pyrrha meant by interesting. If her personality is anything like her coffee order, Weiss Schnee must be something else. You have never seen anyone tap their foot with such ferocity over a coffee before. But by the grace of the Gods, Weiss and the barista come to an agreement and the line begins to move again.

Once you complete your order and pay, you make your way to the pickup counter at the far end of the cafe. You see that Weiss is still there, waiting for her drink. Feeling like it's better to be safe than sorry, you stand in a spot about five feet away from her.

"You're Blake, right?" So much for that plan.

"I am. And you're Weiss."

"How do you know my name?" She seems genuinely surprised that you know anything about her.

"Well, I heard you give the barista your name for your order. Also, Pyrrha told me."

"Hm. What did you get?" She motions to the counter.

"I got a peppermint tea. Nice and simple." She doesn't miss the small tone of sarcasm in your voice.

"Ha, ha. Very funny." You reach out and grab your tea a few seconds after the barista places it on the counter and bring it to your lips. "I just so happen to order the same thing from the coffee shop by my apartment and they have absolutely no issues making it. I don't see why it's such a big deal at this establishment."

"Establishment huh? Fancy."

"I'm not fancy. I just know how I like to drink my coffee. And I prefer to drink it when it's fresh." The foot tapping begins again.

"Well, maybe if you weren't so busy complaining, you would've noticed that your drink has been sitting on the counter for almost four minutes already." You nudge your shoulder in that direction and roll your eyes slightly. "I have to get back to work. I guess you'll have to see me later, Weiss Schnee."

She huffs as you flash her a lopsided smirk and turn towards the doorway, making your way back to the store to finish the rest of your day.


	3. Worth Its Weight in Sarcasm

Chapter Three.

"Hey! Where are you going? Ruby, Nora and Ren are gonna be here for game night in like ten minutes!"

"Sun, I told you that I am going to dinner with Weiss and Yang tonight. And I don't see why it's a big deal, we only have four controllers so I never actually play anyways."

"But your moral support is greatly appreciated." He winks and gives you the finger guns. He always does that when he's trying to get you to agree with him.

"Not going to work this time dude." You grab your bag and keys off the hook by the front door.

"Aw come on. It's your last night here with us before you go off to Mistral for three long weeks for advanced technician training. Which congrats on beating me to a promotion, again."

"It's not that big of a deal really. And I think it's just because Ozpin likes my terrible sense of humor and sarcastic ways. But, I promised Yang I would go get a drink, so I am. I may even be back in time to catch the end of game night."

"Fine. Just remember, we've been at Scroll now for five months and you haven't missed a single game night yet. Ruby is going to be mad there's no chocolate chip cookies." Now he's trying puppy dog eyes, which have never ever worked in his favor.

"Lucky for you, I made them this afternoon. They are on a plate that's wrapped up on the counter in the kitchen." Now it's your turn to give him the finger guns.

"Okay, okay. Just go before they get here. Tell Yang hi."

"Just Yang? What about Weiss?" You lean back in from the doorway to see him answer.

"Tell the ice queen that she better keep it classy. We all know she can't hold her alcohol." Rolling your eyes, you close the door and lock it behind you.

—

The wind is knocked out of your chest from the slap on your back as you hop onto the bar stool. Yang sure does know how to give a proper hello.

"Blake! Nice of you to make it to your own congratulatory drinking night!" She pats you much more lightly a few times on the back before turning back to face the bartender. "We will have two strawberry sunrises, please."

"You don't have to order for me Yang. I am perfectly capable."

"Yeah I know, but this first one is on me. As a congrats from me to you."

"You really don't have to do that."

"No, I don't. But I want to, so I am."

"Well, thanks." You look around, noticing there's still one empty stool. "Is Weiss still coming? Or did she change her mind?"

"Eh, you know how she is. You can never tell if she's going to show up late, or just not show up. Because you know how it is, Weiss Schnee does-"

"Whatever Weiss Schnee wants. I know, I know."

Yang must've caught the slight sound of disappointment in your voice because her eyebrows arch in surprise. "Is someone upset that Miss Schnee isn't here? My, my I didn't expect that from you."

"What? Weiss is my friend too you know. We may not see eye to eye on everything." When the bartender comes by you order yourself a second drink.

"Or anything, really. You are always fighting." You mouth a thank you to the bartender as he places your new drink down, removing the old glass as he moves on down the bar.

"But we are still friends. Which is why I figured that she would show up…. is all. But like you said. Weiss Schnee does what Weiss Schnee wants."

"Which is exactly why I'm here." You can literally feel the chill rush through your veins as you take a sip of your disgustingly fruity drink.

"Oh hey Weiss, nice of you to FINALLY join us." Yang's emphasis somewhat takes Weiss' attention off of you. Thank Gods.

"Yeah, better late than you know.. to never show up and ditch us without so much as a message to our scrolls." You raise you drink to take another sip and Weiss snatches it from your hand and downs half of it. Involuntarily, one of your Faunus ears folds back in annoyance. "You are welcome for that drink, by the way."

"It's certainly the least you could do, seeing as how you just made an attempt to threaten my character." She stands up straight and presses her heels together. Something you've noticed she does a lot while trying to make a point.

She squints her eyes at you slightly. So you return the favor with the most stoic and unimpressed look you can muster. All Yang can do is roll her eyes.

The three of you continue drinking for about another half hour. You quit after the second drink. Which is actually the third, since Weiss drank the second one. The more the two of you drink, the more frequent the comments and teasing occurs.

"I don't see why you always have to make fun of my shoes. They are perfectly acceptable attire for this outing."

"You're always wearing something with a heel. Makes you walk like you have a stick up your ass sometimes is all." It doesn't really, but you take any chance you can get to make fun of Weiss.

"Well, look at you!" She motions down to your outfit. A zip up hoodie with jeans and comfortable shoes. An outfit totally okay for the bar Yang chose.

"What about me?"

"Always wearing stuff like that, so-" she's a little drunk so she's having trouble finding the right word. Perfect time for you to take advantage.

"So what? Comfortable?" You can practically feel the frustration building in Weiss. This is usually the point where you ease up a little bit. You never actually want to hurt her feelings or upset her. Thankfully for Weiss, Yang finally jumps back in.

"I can see that the two of you will be perfectly okay here without me, continuing this…" she waves her hand in between the two of you "flirtatious tryst or whatever it is you have going on here. I have an early meeting to get to tomorrow morning so I'm gonna go ahead and head home."

Weiss not so graciously slides off the stool, almost missing her footing and falling to the floor. You reach out to grab her and she puts her hand on your shoulder to regain her balance. Once she realizes what just happened, she swats in your direction, hitting you on the shoulder she was just holding on to.

"Wait, you can't just leave me here with Blake. She's mean."

"Leave you here with me? How ironic." Yang looks as though she's second guessing leaving the two of you here unattended. Making you roll your eyes. "It's really fine Yang, good luck at the meeting tomorrow."

Weiss stomps her foot in protest. You swear she lives to oppose everything you say and do. "I will only stay here under one condition." Weiss raises a not so steady finger in the air for Yang to see. "Blake has to get me another drink."

"Done, princess. Now sit back down and order it." She quietly claps her hands together at winning the non existent argument and sits back down. It's easier to keep your eye on Weiss when she's sitting still.

Yang looks over your shoulder at Weiss swaying on her stool at the bar. "You gonna be okay with fancy pants over there?"

"Oh please." You turn and look at Weiss. Even when she's drunk she still looks put together. It's kind of infuriating. But it's the infuriating that's infuriating because it doesn't even make you mad. "This isn't the first time I've been stuck with her by myself. We will survive. Or at least one of us will."

"Whatever you say Blakey. Message me tomorrow." You wave her off as she passes through the staggered crowd of people towards the exit, turning to sit back down with Weiss.

—

It's been almost another 30 minutes since Yang left, and Weiss is finishing her third, maybe fourth drink.

"Are you almost done for the evening, your highness?" At this point you have an elbow propped on the bar with your chin resting in your palm, watching Weiss attempt to make an origami creature that she swears is a crane out of napkins.

"As soon as my creation is complete, we can go, my peasant." By now the napkin is basically just a twisted up wad of paper that looks like someone has sneezed in. She pulls at the edges as though they are wings and pulls on your arm, turning your arm over until your palm faces upward. You only let her do it because by this point you are just curious. She carefully picks up the wad of paper and gently places it in your hand. "Perfect." She nods in approval of her creation. Before you can even ask any questions, you hear the shutter clicking sound on a scroll camera. Looking up to see Weiss admiring the photo she just took of you holding the precious trash bird she made.

"Please tell me you're going to delete that."

"Absolutely not!"

"Can I at least see it? If you insist so badly on keeping it." She turns her scroll around so that you can look. "Oh Gods, I look terrible. Please get rid of it."

"I will never do that. And I think you look rather cute. I mean, you always are but just slightly more so in this picture." She lifts her nose in defiance. "So I'm keeping it."

Still stunned from Weiss calling you cute, and really just complimenting you in any way at all, you don't notice her slip off the stool.

"I'm ready to go home now."

"Well as long as you're ready, then I guess we should leave." You put enough lien to cover all of your drinks and Weiss' as well as a decent tip for the bartender on the bar in front of you and follow Weiss out the front door.

—

"Where do you think you're going?" You catch up to her and reach out to grab her hand and spin her around to face you.

"Home. Where are you going?" She takes her index finger and pokes you on the end of your nose.

"Nope. I'm not going anywhere. You can't go home just yet. Not unless you let me drive you home, which I know you won't. Or we have to hang out until the alcohol wears off a little bit. I don't want you to get into an accident or hurt yourself."

"Well then I guess we will just have to sit here in this parking lot."

"We might not have to sit, I have an idea. Come with me."

"Where are we going? Somewhere you can kill me and bury the body?"

"Oh please, if I wanted you dead you would be long gone by now. Just come on, drama queen." You look behind you to make sure Weiss is following you. Slowly but surely and with a strong sway in her step, she's following about three paces behind you. You unlock the doors of your car and step up to open the passenger's side door. "Get in, princess."

"Where are we going? I don't want you to have to drive me home."

"We aren't going home, we are going up."

"I know I'm drunk, but that doesn't make any damn sense."

"It will in a minute, just get in the damn car." And with a huff Weiss slides into the seat and pulls the door shut.

You don't go far, just up to the top level of the parking deck you were already parked in. There's no other cars in the lot at this time of night so you pick a random spot and motion for Weiss to get out.

"What on Remnant are we doing up here?"

Pressing on the trunk of your car for leverage, you lift yourself up to sit on top of it and pat the space next to you, figuring Weiss would get the hint.

"Really? We came up here just to sit on the trunk of your car? You have got to be kidding me." Even though she gives you such a struggle, she hops up next to you.

As you lean back on the glass of the back window, you can see you made the right decision. There aren't many clouds tonight at all.

"Would you just shut up for two seconds and look up." You can tell she can sense the agitation in your voice. So you soften a little bit as you point up to the sky. "Please."

Silence falls on you as Weiss realizes why you are up here. The stars are out and look amazing. But the moon has always been your favorite. When you were little, your favorite fairytale was the one about how the Gods fought and it caused the moon to crack and shatter. The two of you lay against the window of the car for what feels like an hour before Weiss breaks the silence.

"You know, I thought for a long time that you hated me."

"Why would you ever think that?"

"Just the way you always tease me. And how you're always so sarcastic." It makes you laugh a little bit, causing Weiss to sit up and look over at you. "I'm serious. I really thought you hated me!"

You lean forward to sit even with her. "Trust me Weiss, if I hated you I wouldn't have even spent two minutes getting to know you. Much less be sitting here with you now." She hums in response, seeming to accept that answer.

You can tell that the alcohol has worn off substantially, so you hop down from the car and offer your hand out for her to grab. But she opts not to take it, almost collapsing when she hits the ground unevenly with her wedged heels.

"Always classy, never trashy huh?"

"Hush you dolt. At least I'm not a nerd like you."

"And what may I ask is wrong with that?" Once the two of you are back in the car, you begin the journey back to the lower level the parking deck.

"Nothing, I suppose."

You stop the car next to Weiss' SUV. Your eyes follow her as she gets into the driver's seat and shuts the door. As usual, you roll down your window so that you can say goodbye to her before you head home.

"Try not to miss me too much while you're over there in Mistral for three weeks living your best life."

"I make no promises, Weiss Schnee."

"I can understand that, I am a very missable person."

"I'm sure you are. Message me when you get home so I know you made it safe."

She nods to you as she rolls up her window and drives off. You take the long way home. For some reason you just aren't ready for the night to be over. When you get home everyone is already gone and Sun is in his room with the door closed. The lights are off and you can't hear anything so you figure he's gone to bed. As you crawl into bed you hear your scroll go off, you have a message.

_Made it home safe. Goodnight you dolt. Message me tomorrow._

You quickly type a response, telling Weiss goodnight and that you will talk to her tomorrow. And you drift off to sleep, dreaming about sitting on a bench next to a river covered in fog.


	4. Certain Things You Don't Miss

Chapter Four.

"Come on Blake, it's only three weeks. You can do this."

Maybe if you repeat it long enough, you will start to believe it. It's only been a little more than a week so far, and you are really just ready to take the certification exams and go back to Vale. Not that being here isn't bad or anything. But you feel completely alone. Your roommate for the trip, Coco, is amazing and super cool. Her fashion sense is insane. And she loves to chill and watch cooking shows like you do. But something just isn't there. You're missing something.

You look down as your scroll rings again, for the second time in the last hour. The same caller's name flashing across the top of the screen. You don't want to talk to him. May as well get it over with, you guess.

"What Adam? I'm kinda busy studying for my exams."

"Blake, I've been trying to call and message you for days and you haven't been answering."

"You know that I'm in Mistral for training classes for three weeks. I don't always have time to talk or respond."

"Gods Blake, is it that difficult to have a conversation with you? Do I need to schedule it a month in advance?"

"Okay, fine then. What would you like to talk about?" The following moments of silence assures you that this is a total waste of time that could be spent doing anything but this.

"Um… how was your day?"

"I worked all day and now I'm studying for the exam I have to take in two days. I'm tired and hungry. So it's a pretty spectacular day." You swirl the pen you've been using in between your fingers while you wait for Adam to participate in the conversation he insisted on having. After a few seconds you get tired of waiting. "And what about you? How was your day?"

He must've finally gotten the hint of sarcasm dripping from your words.

"Okay, I get it Blake. I'll talk to you some other time."

"I'll message you tomorrow after class."

"Sounds like a plan. Goodnight."

You don't even reciprocate the farewell and disconnect the call. Eyes falling immediately back down to the notes on your Scroll Tab. Hearing Coco clear her throat from across the table, you look up to face whatever criticism you are about to get.

"Think it may be time to possibly… reevaluate the livelihood of that relationship or nah?"

You release a much needed sigh. "I think that there is no livelihood left. Feels rather dead to me."

"Why you say that?"

"I just don't feel anything's there anymore. But there's never a good time to end something. And it seems worse to do it over a message, or phone call."

"Yeah I get what you mean. But I don't think there is ever a right time for.." Coco waves the pen in her hand in the air like it's a magic wand "that."

"You are definitely right. Unfortunately, I just can't afford to focus on that right now." Your scroll buzzes on the table, you see a message from Weiss appear on the screen. Arching your neck, you strain to read what it says.

Miss me yet?

Quickly, you grab your scroll and type out a response and set it back down on the wooden surface. Looking up you see Coco observing everything you just did.

"Something you can afford to focus on?"

"Yes, and no."

"Want to and should are almost always mutually exclusive."

She says no more, choosing to return to her own studying. And finally, you are able to do the same.

—

The rest of your time in Mistral flows by as slowly as it started. You pass all your exams with flying colors. It would've been disgraceful if you hadn't, considering how many hours you and Coco spent studying. And how many hours it allowed you to avoid Adam. It's gotten to the point where Weiss will check in at least once a day and you find yourself looking forward to it more and more every day. But you are just getting more and more agitated with Adam. Which really isn't his fault.

Now it's time to go home. Back to Sun and the plants. Yang and her puns. Beacon and its customers. Weiss and her… Weissness? You miss it all. Whatever it is.

As you walk into the airship station you realize that you're also going to miss seeing Coco every day. Spending almost every waking moment with a complete stranger for three weeks straight makes you realize how much you two actually have in common.

"I mean, it's sad that our time here is over. But we only live like what? Four hours apart? Not a bad drive."

"True. We have to meet up sometime. At least once a year or something."

"Agreed. And hopefully by the next time I see you, you will have dumped that dependent leech boy."

Part of you feels bad that Coco already has such a negative opinion of Adam, when he really isn't a bad guy. He just doesn't seem like he's going to turn out to be the one you thought he was.

"We will see about that. I will file it under special projects for the time being."

"You do that." She reaches out and gives you a tight hug. "I gotta go board my ship now. Take care, Blake. Talk soon."

With that, she flips down her sunglasses and walks off down the docking bay towards the airship set for western Vale.

The airship bound for northern Vale doesn't leave for another hour, but you check the huge screen listing all the departures for the tenth time just to make sure. Something tickles your palm and you pull your scroll up to read the message that is filling the upper portion of the display.

_Ready to come home? Message me when you get home. You have someone to pick you up from the station tonight, right?_

_Yes, Weiss. Sun will be there to pick me up. And I'll let you know when I make it home. _

_Okay.. good. Have a safe flight._

You spend the remaining time watching an episode of a cooking competition show on Remflix, until you hear them call for your flight over the loud speaker.

It's finally time to go home.


	5. Trip and Fall

Chapter Five.

You're late. You're never late for anything, ever. But here you are, running through your apartment trying to find one of your shoes, your work shirt and your keys.

"This is absolutely trash." As you stand up from tying the shoe you've been looking for for over twenty minutes. "I can't believe Sun just left all this shit everywhere." You rifle through the junk on the dining room table. You know you left your keys on here somewhere. Now there's tons of plant related items covering the entirety of the table.

Throwing your grey work t-shirt over your shoulder, you throw the front door shut behind you and sprint towards your car.

The next thing you know, you're looking up at the sky. All things considered, it's a really nice day out. But why are you looking at the sky and not the inside of your car? And why is there inexplicable pain in your legs?

"Ugh." Pulling your scroll from your pocket and locating the right contact, you type out a quick message to work and let them know you're going to be a few minutes late.

—

"Where have you been? I know you messaged the work scroll and said you were running late Blake, but it's launch day and you were supposed to be here like half an hour ago!" Weiss seems a little on edge.

"Maybe you can ask Sun why I'm late. It's basically all his fault." You groan as you sit down in the seat next to Weiss in the managers' office. She recently got the opportunity to spend six weeks learning how to become a manager, so making sure everybody was where they were supposed to and when was now one of Weiss' primary responsibilities.

"Care to elaborate? You're already late, might as well take an additional five minutes and fill me in."

"Fine." One of your legs is really causing you some pain, but you brush it off. "First, he took my work shirt out of the laundry, not his. So I think I'm wearing his work shirt. Then I couldn't find one of my shoes." Weiss gives you an accusatory side eye. "Which I know is totally my fault, not his. But then I couldn't find my car keys because he put all the shit he bought for his plants on the dining room table and buried my keys."

"If that's what made you thirty minutes late Blake, I'm gonna need you to come up with a lie that's a little better next time, because that's just sad."

"Oh, I'm not done yet. Look." You swing your legs out from underneath the desk so that you face Weiss in your chair and hold out your hands, palms up.

"Gods, Blake what happened?"

"As I was saying.." You pull back your hands when she reaches out to examine the scrapes on them. You would prefer she didn't touch them. "When I finally got out the front door of my house, I tripped over a concrete planter that he left right outside the door. I cut my knee." Weiss looks down and sees the rip in the knee of your jeans and from the look on her face, it must still be bleeding a little bit. "And I may have twisted my ankle. Then I hurt my hands when I fell. So as you can see, I have a reason for being late."

"You really are a clumsy dolt."

"There shouldn't be things hiding right outside my front door either. But say what you want." You wave her off and continue checking your work emails. Just a bunch of pre launch details and organizational information for the new scroll launch.

"Okay then, you look like a hobo."

"I do not."

"Can you even walk with your knee like that?"

"Of course I can walk. Just fine. And slowly." It really did hurt to walk. Pretty sure it took you ten of the thirty minutes you were running late just to walk from your car to the store, but details.

"Maybe you should take a sick day." You can feel your Faunus ears stiffen and the hair on the back of your neck rise. You don't call out sick.

"No."

"No?"

"I'm perfectly fine. There's no reason for me to go home. It's launch day and the store needs me here."

"The store is going to make plenty of money today, with or without you here."

"Sick days are for when you're actually sick. Not when you trip and fall."

"Stand up."

"I'm checking my email. Why do I need to stand up?"

"Because I asked you, ever so kindly to stand up." You aren't convinced. "Please?"

"Whatever." Pressing down on the arms of the chair so that most of the weight goes to your arms and not your messed up legs, you heave yourself up from sitting. "See? Nothing wrong."

"Uh huh. Come here."

"Why do I need to come over there? I can see everything from here." She was only about three steps away from you. But you were sure you knew exactly what her plan was.

"Blake Belladonna, I am asking you to walk over here. Now please come stand next to me."

"I don't want to."

"And why is that?"

Great. The ways you can weasel your way out of this situation are quickly beginning to disappear. Might as well concede and admit defeat.

"I don't want to walk."

"Mhm. I'm sure. But I'm also sure it has nothing to do with that gapping wound on your knee. Or could it possibly-"

"Okay Weiss, fine. My leg does hurt. But I don't want to go home. I can stay here and help. We are really busy."

"And I am telling you, that as your 'manager' I am going to make the decision that it's best if you went home and rested." The finality in her voice leaves you with no choice. No point in arguing with the silver haired devil this afternoon.

"Huh. I guess you learn a lot of about people when they get a little taste of power." You flick one of your ears.

"Now what is that supposed to mean?" It's her turn to swivel the chair and face you.

"I'm totally joking Weiss. I'll go home, if you really want me to."

"Well I mean, I don't want you to go home. I like having you here for my own sanity, but today you should be at home."

You notice the weighted sigh that escapes her mouth as she continues typing notes into a document on the desktop computer in front of her. She looks tired. The usually covered scar under her left eye is showing more today. She doesn't have as much makeup on as usual. Her shoulders are falling further forward than normal. You catch yourself looking for a little too long.

"Weiss-"

"Are you going to be okay getting yourself home? I can call someone to come get you. Adam is back now right?" Tension begins to grip throughout your body. "I can see if he can come pick you up-"

"I can take myself." Your answer is short and snappy. It makes Weiss look at you in surprise. Your ears are turned back and she's noticed.

"Um. Okay.. well then I guess I will call and check on you later today. If that's okay with you?"

"Yeah. Sorry. That's fine." You feel bad for snapping like that. You just don't want Adam anywhere near you, or your problems. He is a large enough problem on his own. "I'm gonna grab my stuff and head home. I'll talk to you later." The door handle is freezing cold to the touch when you press down on it. "I'm sorry for giving you a hard time."

"You aren't giving me a hard time Blake. Just go home and rest, please."

—

When Sun gets home that evening, he finds you on the couch watching cooking shows with your leg propped up on some pillows. Ice bags are on your ankle and knee.

"Ah, Your Grace. Good to see you're recovering well."

"I wouldn't need to be recovering if you didn't leave your botanical paraphernalia all over the place."

He rubs his hand on the back of his neck as he walks over to the dining room table. "Yeah, sorry about that. I forgot to put all this stuff out on the patio with the plants this morning before I left."

"And that gigantic speed bump you left right outside the front door? Come on dude, you almost killed me this morning."

"The planter? I moved it off to the side into the grass. That thing is crazy heavy."

"No shit." You roll your eyes so hard that they might fall out.

Sun makes a few trips to and from the patio, putting away all the junk for his plants. You end up getting up to limp your way to the kitchen to get some water. He's filling up the jug he uses to water his plants when he sees you out the corner of his eye.

"You know, Weiss kept asking me today if I'd heard from you and if you were okay."

"Is that so?" Normally, this would've peaked your interest or at least elicited a response of some kind, but you weren't in the mood for anything that didn't involve an ice bag and some pain relievers.

"Yup. Had to tell her like five times that you were probably either dead, or perfectly fine."

"Yeah I told her I'm fine. She messaged me a few minutes ago."

After a few seconds of silence and that feeling you get when someone is watching you, you look up to see what Sun is doing. He's wiggling his eyebrows and giving you that look. You know that look. It's "the look."

"Weiss is just my friend, Sun. It's no big deal."

"Listen, Weiss caring about anyone other than Weiss is typically a big deal. Since you know, it never happens."

He may actually be right. But you don't really want to think about it right now. Right now, your main goal in life is to make it back to the couch with this glass of water.

"Yeah, okay. Whatever you say monkey boy. I'll be on the couch for the rest of evening watching 'The Great Remnant Baking Show.' If you need anything, you know where to find me."

And with that, you hobble off to the couch to continue the episode about making bread. And to not think about Weiss.


	6. An Anger Issue and Some Jumper Cables

Chapter Six.

Integrity. Self worth. Both are good things to have, right? Right. You aren't being irrational at all.

Gods. It's only been two weeks, give or take, since Adam has gotten home from his stint in the Remnant Navy. You should be proud of him, serving in the military. Fighting for something grander than himself. And you would be. You would be if he had actually completed his term of service. But he all but begged for early dismissal. Only fulfilling just under a year of his four year commitment.

"It's absolute trash is what it is." You slam your locker closed, only to have it bounce back open, taking off your jacket and placing it inside. This time you close it properly.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Why don't you tell me how you really feel?" You sense that this is a rhetorical question, but even the tone of Weiss' voice doesn't stop you.

"He made a commitment. Swore an oath. Or whatever it is that you do for that kinda stuff. Does that not mean anything? I mean, honestly." You can feel Weiss' eyes on you as you turn your Scroll shirt the right side out.

"No… I understand why you are… upset." Her eyes still lingering on you while you fool with the lock, trying to reopen your locker to put the travel mug of tea back where it belongs. You notice the silence in between her words and you glance over to see her staring with her mouth slightly open.

"Are you okay?" No response. You wave your hand in her direction. "Weiss?"

"Oh, yeah. Sorry. Um."

"What's wrong? You were looking but.. not looking?"

"It's nothing." Seeing the quirk in your eyebrow makes her fidget. "It's just that, well, you don't have a…"

"A what?" Maybe it's because you were already frustrated with Adam and his lack of.. everything, but your patience is running thin. "Please just say whatever it is Weiss. I really don't have the mental fortitude to deal with anything else right now."

"You don't have a shirt on." Suddenly, you feel cold.

"Well I do have a tank top on. It's not like I'm naked." Feeling oddly exposed you hurriedly pull the Scroll t-shirt over your head and straighten it out.

Clearing her throat, Weiss seems to have settled back into her normal disposition. "So, continue with what you were saying before you.. distracted me. What you were saying about Adam."

Even the sound of his name is borderline infuriating. "I just, ugh. I don't even know how to phrase it. I'm so not proud of what he's done. It's pathetic to me."

"Maybe he just wanted to come home early to see you, or something."

"Please don't try to piss me off any more than I already am." Closing the locker for the final time, you touch the keypad to lock it and lean against it. "Plus, him actually being out of the military is only part of the reason I'm so mad right now. He is an irresponsible fool."

"What else could he have possibly done to anger you, Blake Belladonna, the most calm person I know." She waves one hand, like she's trying to be funny but it's not really working.

"This morning he insisted on driving me to work. But he got upset because he's 'struggling to adjust' to life back here in Vale. So he punched his radio in the car and shattered the touch screen display." Weiss now looks honestly surprised. "Which I looked it up for him, will cost like twelve hundred lien to get replaced. And I ended up just driving myself to work anyways. So yeah. He's basically an idiot. And I don't know how much more of it I can stand."

"Is he normally so physically violent?" Something sparks in her eyes that you can't pinpoint. "He's never hurt you, has he?"

"Gods no. I don't think he would ever try to actually hurt me. He knows I wouldn't tolerate that. But he's been getting worse and worse about controlling his temper." Your ears fold back just at the thought.

"Maybe he isn't someone that you should consider keeping around long term?" She notices when your ears perk up. "I mean, maybe it's time to look at how this relationship is progressing and figuring out whether it currently is and will be making you happy. Because you deserve to be happy, and right now you aren't."

"Guess I have something else I can think about when I'm not at work." You mumble under your breath.

"What else do you think about when you aren't at work?"

"Huh?" Weiss quickly realizes that she said that thought out loud and moves to backtrack.

"Oh, nothing. We should get back to the store. Our break is finished. And now that you are fully clothed, we can go back to work."

"Uh huh Schnee, whatever you say." You hold the break room door open for her as she quickly prances through its threshold.

—

Other than the totally non work related drama of your personal life, the entire day has been a complete struggle for you. But you try to focus more on what's in front of you, rather than the constant message notifications plastering their way across your scroll all day.

"I really wish he would get a job. Or something." You type out a quick response letting Adam know that you work a closing shift and you wouldn't be available for dinner.

"The old ball and chain still hassling you day in and out?"

"Yes, Sun. It's getting relentless. I have to silence his alert messages because I can't stand the constant buzzing."

"Could always just cut him loose." He slices his tail across his throat for emphasis. "Or maybe your dad could come take care of it for you. He's a big, scary dude."

"I can handle this mess myself, thanks. No need to bring my dad any where near Vale." You don't even want to think about that hypothetical situation.

"True. I'm heading out for the day. I'll see you at home. Might order some pizza for dinner. Ruby and Nora may stop by and play video games for a bit."

"Cool. I'll see you at home."

The rest of the day goes pretty smoothly. The night is always slightly busier than you expect it to be. Last minute repair drop offs and stuff like that. Or people rushing in last minute looking for an immediate fix that is almost always impossible.

At 8:30 you see silver hair wandering in your direction out the corner of your eye. There's only one person it could belong to. She drums her fingernails atop the table as she saunters by.

"Goodnight, Blake." You give her the best lopsided grin you can manage while trying to help the gentleman in front of you with his Scroll.

—

The store closed at 9, so you start cleaning up all the tables and organizing the store to prepare for the next morning. Leaving some of the sales team and newer repair technicians out front, you head back to the repair room to start cleaning.

There's a long work bench where the Scrolls and Scrollbook computers get repaired. As per the usual, there are tiny pieces of glass as well as other bits and pieces stuck to the rubbery mat.

"If you wipe down the mat and check on the Scrollbooks that are running diagnostics I can do the rest for you."

"Thanks, Neptune."

"Not a problem. Pyrrha got a lot of the admin work done early tonight before she left so I haven't had too much to get done this evening."

"Typical Pyrrha, always a step ahead."

"If that isn't the truth. Makes me feel like a slacker most of the time though."

"Definitely not. You are an excellent admin. Pyrrha is just like… agonizingly perfect at everything."

"Are you trying to make me feel better or not? Because I can't really tell." Judging from his laugh, he knows you are joking. Neptune has been remarkably receptive to your sarcastic nature.

"I do what I can."

"So the bare minimum?" Good to see he has a sense of humor similar to your own. You slide off the desk chair once the final Scrollbook is set up and running diagnostics.

"Exactly, I-" The ringing of your scroll disrupts your train of thought. Not a call you were expecting this evening. "Hey Weiss, what's up?"

—

You don't think you've ever brushed glass off the mat that quickly in your life. You may have gotten a piece stuck in your finger, but that didn't matter. Briskly, you huff your way up the parking deck steps to the top level where you always park. Once you reach the top your eyes find their designated target.

A very grouchy looking and disheveled Weiss is looking down into the opened hood of her SUV. Seizing the opportunity to have a little fun, you sneak up behind her as quietly as possible.

"You know," she screams while swinging her arm back towards you but misses "I've heard that if you stare at it long enough, the car will jump itself."

"Damn it, Blake. You almost gave me a heart attack!"

"Good thing I didn't. You'd be in need of dire medical attention and have a car that wouldn't start. Not exactly a winning combination, is it?"

"Very funny, you dolt. Now help me jump my car please."

"As you wish, ice queen." You mockingly bow.

You open the trunk of your car and grab the jumper cables you keep next to the first aid kit and head back to Weiss' car, which is conveniently parked right next to yours.

"Okay, I'm going to connect the cars and then when I tell you, start your car, please."

"That's it? That's all you have to do?" You stare blankly at her as you move to sit in your own driver's seat.

"Next time you can just do this by yourself then. With one car. And no jumper cables."

"No! I didn't mean it like that. I swear!" Laughing at her obvious distress at having to help herself out of a mess, you motion with your hand for her to start her car.

"I'm just joking, Weiss. Can you go ahead and start your car so we can see if this is going to work?" After about two seconds, Weiss' car engine purrs to life. You disconnect the cables from both cars and close the hoods. You walk up to the driver's side window of Weiss' car to find her resting her chin on her folded arms on the window frame.

"I have to go to the store to get a few things. Would you mind coming with me, in your car, just in case it doesn't start again? You don't have to if you don't want to, or if you have other plans, or if-"

"I don't have any plans. I'll go. I'll meet you across the street." Hopping back into your car, you follow the white SUV across the busy road separating the outdoor mall from the shopping center.

Once you both make it to the store and you've started shopping, you remember how different you and Weiss are. After about ten minutes in the makeup section your attention span begins to wane. However, Weiss is fully zeroed in, looking for Gods only know.

"Um, I'm gonna go grab a few things that I need. I'll be back in a few minutes."

"If you must." She waves you off while debating between three tubes of some kind of skin tone colored paste, or gel.

Quickly, you find your way to the outdoor and automotive section and locate the items you need. Knowing that you have plenty of time, you leisurely stroll up to the registers with your items and place them on the conveyor belt.

"Car trouble?" The cashier looks at you sympathetically.

"Oh no, not me. My friend is just unprepared so I'm trying to help out."

"Good looking out." You nod. Socializing hasn't ever been your strong point. You pay and grab the bag full of stuff and set back off towards the makeup section.

After wandering down a few aisles further than the one you left Weiss in, you find her. Still engrossed in whatever it is she's reading off the side of the container.

"Nice of you to finally come back."

"Yeah I know. Those seven minutes I was gone must've been really difficult for you. Trying to decide which tone is better, pale or paler."

"Rude." She brushes past you, back in the direction you came from. By the grace of the Gods, you don't have to wait while she finds any more makeup.

In the time that you left the registers and when you returned with Weiss, the cashier has disappeared. So you head for the self check out area. Weiss scans, bags and pays for whatever it is that she wanted for her face and you head out to the parking lot.

You always stroll casually behind Weiss, who likes to prance her way everywhere. Must be those fancy wedged heels she's always wearing. Not your kinda shoe, but whatever.

"Gods, I hope this works." She closes her eyes as she turns the key in the ignition. She makes some kind of excited noise that you will call a squeak when the car turns on without issue. "Yay! You fixed it! You may be rude but you aren't totally worthless."

"I try." In the sequential silence, your mind begins to wander along with the music playing from the car speakers. Suddenly remembering the bag that weighs on your left arm you shove it through the open window of Weiss' car.

"What is this?"

"Here. I got you these." She opens the bag to reveal a new set of jumper cables and a first aid kit, similar to the ones you have in your own car. "It's not safe to not have these. So I got them for you."

"You didn't have to do that for me." A light blush creeps its way across Weiss' cheeks.

"No, but I wanted to so I did." Something settled in the air between you, but you couldn't say what exactly it was. Mentally you try to force something out your mouth to end the silence. "And I may not always be around to fix all your problems, so having a little extra help might not be so bad." You flick one of your ears and shrug, looking off towards the ground. There must be something interesting over there.

"Well, thank you. For being so awful all the time you do have the occasional redeeming moment."

"Must be why you keep me around."

"Probably not. Have a good night, well what's left of it. Message me when you get home."

"Night Weiss. Drive safe."

The entire drive home your mind swirls through your day from start to finish. You can't help but feel like it ended a lot better than it started. And when something in your chest feels heavy, your brain tries not to feel it.


	7. Flat Ears

Chapter Seven.

Today was honestly not a bad day. There's not many times that you can say that, but today is one of them. None of your appointments at work have been too awful. There's always a few customers that are upset or yelling, but that's just how it is. So at 6:15 you sit down with your last customer of the day and begin making the usual idle chit chat while you start a software update on their Scrollbook. You have a remote radio piece in your ear in case the managers call for a technician, and you hear a call come through about a technician having issues with a customer. But it's technically not your job and you're already assisting someone so you let it go.

A few minutes pass and another call comes through and you hear Weiss' voice, saying that she is on her way to help. You can always hear the clicking of whatever shoes she has on before you see her. White hair wisps against your shoulder as she power walks by the table you are sitting at. Something inside you wants to follow her where ever she is going, but you stay with your customer.

After the software update is complete, you check and make sure all the issues your customer had are resolved and thank him for his patience. He shakes your hand and you turn to head home for the day. But a sound perks your Faunus ears and makes you return back where you came from. The customer that Weiss went to deal with is still in the store, and screaming at the technician and Weiss. Since the repair technicians and their work are part of your mentoring responsibility and not Weiss,' you feel like you need to go see what's going on. That, and you don't like that man yelling at Weiss.

By the time you get over to the situation, Weiss looks relieved to see you but there is also a hesitant look on her face. Velvet is standing slightly behind Weiss, she must've been the technician assigned to help the man. Not being one for confrontation, Velvet has recessed into herself and is doing her best to pretend like she's not even there.

"Hey Weiss, what is going on? There anything I can help you guys with?" You try to keep your body language as open as you can, addressing all three of them.

"This gentleman is just having an issue with a cracked screen on his scroll. And he doesn't believe that he should have to pay the 150 lien for a repair to get his issue resolved. So we are working on a solution." Weiss' lips are tight. You can tell that she's angry.

"Oh, don't tell me the only people this place employs are low life ruffians and animals." Now you see the true issue. The dude hates Faunus. One of those. Poor Velvet. She has always been sensitive about her ears, which you have always found to be awesome. They have such character, unlike your own minimal Faunus ears.

"Sir, Scroll is an equal opportunity employer, we hire human and Faunus alike. There is no need for such behavior." That wasn't the right thing for Weiss to say, because the dude loses his mind.

"EXCUSE ME? WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY MY BEHAVIOR?" He takes a large step forward, nearly closing the gap between himself and Weiss. Velvet takes the opportunity to vacate the situation and hurries away.

At this point you feel like it may be time for you to step in. And you really don't like the way he's speaking to Weiss.

"Sir, please do not raise your voice in the store. Raising your voice doesn't make it any easier for anyone to get to a solution for this issue."

The gentleman in question choses to simply ignore what you just said to him and solely address Weiss.

"Are you going to allow her to speak to me, a loyal and paying customer in such a manner?"

"Sir, in what way are you referring? Blake is speaking to you in a calm and respectful way."

You can tell that this is going no where. This guy is clearly an entitled and racist jackass that is only looking to cause trouble because he isn't getting what he wants for free. But you know Weiss is doing her best to diffuse the situation, so you hang in there.

"I'm telling you right now that I'm not speaking to any more of these," he points directly at you as his voice begins to escalate in volume once again "these ANIMALS. I spend thousands of lien with this company every year and I refuse to be treated like one of the second rate citizens that you unfortunately choose to employee here. It's sickening how you just let them waltz around a place of business, with ears like the rats you find in the sewer."

Your ears lay flat against your head. Yes, you are upset that this guy is basically calling you an animal to your face. But the way Weiss looks so helpless to defend either one of you, and the tears welling up in the corners of her eyes is what breaks your professional resolve.

"How about this, sir." There is a definite bite to your tone, maybe it's from gritting your teeth so hard while you talk. "You can either pay the 150 lien to get the screen on your scroll fixed, you can leave on your own free will without getting it fixed or you can do neither and continue to act like a child and have security escort you to the door. Because the only one of us acting like a lesser human being here is you, and the employees here don't need to be subjected to such mistreatment."

He scoffs at you as he takes a step back. Clearly not getting the reaction he was expecting he turns to Weiss, who offers no additional comment.

"Fine." He clears his throat and snatches the broken scroll from the table and points his finger in Weiss' face. "You have lost a customer today. Myself and my family will never shop in your stores ever again."

You step closer, coming between the two of them. "I'm sure Scroll with be just fine without your business. Make sure you enjoy the rest of your day. I'm sure you don't need any assistance in locating the exit right behind you."

He curses you and the store as he makes his way to the front and out the door. You stand still and watch him as he goes, ears still flat. Your heart is racing in your chest, not used to being very confrontational with customers you exhale deeply and turn to Weiss. She's not there. So you turn farther, seeing white hair fly past you and out the door in the direction of the cafe down the street. Grabbing your ScrollTab and cables off the table where you took your last appointment, you rush to the back so that you can clock out and end this day. So much for that easy going day.

Before you can go to your car you wander off towards the cafe. Only you aren't in search of tea, you're looking for something more important.

You find her window shopping a few stores down from the cafe. Tears still hanging on for dear life in the corners of her eyes. As you watch her looking at the clothes in the window you can't help but notice how beautiful she is. Her hair is always perfect. Flowing and falling immaculately every day. Her skin is the closest thing to flawless you've ever seen. You don't know how you've wasted all this time around her and never acknowledged or appreciated it before. Oh yeah, because it's Weiss. You shake your head to drag yourself from your thoughts and back into the present moment. Beginning the final few steps towards her you decide that this may not be the moment to scare her or give her a hard time, so you walk up next to her and let your eyes follow her sightline to the article of clothing in the window.

"That looks like something I would wear while I'm cleaning the bathroom. And bleach was involved." A futile attempt to make her smile.

She turns away from the window and looks you in the eyes. You can see the sadness in them. The blue that usually has a crystal glow to it seems darkened and deeper. Releasing a heavy sigh, she starts walking over towards a seating area in the middle of an open section filled with a large tree and a fire pit. Finding one of the cushioned benches she sits down, you follow suit and sit beside her.

The silence drills through your ears in the few short moments on the bench. The worry becomes unbearable so you breach the quiet.

"Are you okay? That guy was pretty rough. But you handled him pretty well. One of the managers should've come to help." Trying to reassure her that she did her best, you perk your ears and give her a small grin.

"I never should've let him talk to you like that. It was awful. It was terrible of me to let him say those things, and do nothing about it." She wipes at the corner of her left eye, the one with the scar under it.

"Well he's just an awful person. There isn't much to do about that." You shrug it off.

"How can you be so calm about it? I could never imagine someone talking to me like that to my face. When he was speaking I just filled with rage. It was so overwhelming and I had to keep it in or else I could lose my job. I can't believe anyone would talk to you in such a manner. It's truly shameful. And even more shameful that I did nothing about it." You can hear the distress in her voice. She is really upset, hurting. "I don't understand how you aren't furious right now. At him. At me." You never thought to be mad at her. Why would you? It wasn't her fault.

"Do you care that I have these?" Waiting until she looks up at your ears, you wiggle them. She shakes her head to say no. "Does it bother you to be seen walking down this street, or sitting here with me on this bench knowing about my ears?"

"No, absolutely not. I'm actually rather fond of them." Is she blushing a little bit? Nah, probably just from the stress of the whole situation.

"Well, your opinion is vastly more important to me than the one of an ignorant ass of a man. One that's willing to display said ignorance in front of countless strangers in public over a repair that would've cost him 150 lien. To me, you matter. He does not."

Finally, a smile spreads across her face. She links her arm with yours at the elbow. You typically aren't one for physical contact of any kind, but you can allow it… just this once. You sit on the bench with her for a few more minutes before she says that her break was probably over a while ago and she needs to get back to the store. Feeling content enough with how today turned out, you watch as Weiss leaves you to walk back to Scroll. Once she steps through the huge glass doors you make your way towards the parking deck and eventually to your apartment.


	8. Remember, Remember

Chapter Eight.

"You said it starts at nine, right?"

"Weiss, for the millionth time, it's a party so it begins around 9 and just goes til whenever. But it's you, so I know you will be there at like 11." You don't know why she even bothers asking you these things. She's always late anyways.

Closing the door to your car, you walk into the liquor store to complete the next errand on your list of things to do to help Sun get ready for this party. Rolling your eyes at Weiss, even though she's not there with you to see.

"Oh hush. And it's not at your apartment, you said it's at Sun's parents' house? Where is that?" You hear her but she seems like background noise as you begin scanning the shelves for the various items Sun requested.

"Ummm, technically it's not their house, house. It's just their vacation home. But it's like 45min from the store. I'll send you the address." Placing the three bottles you've procured from the shelf into your cart, you head over to the next aisle. Never in your life have you used a cart at the liquor store.

"Why, again, is he just now taking this opportunity? I mean, if he's had a place for this long why have we never had a party before?" You can hear her filing her nails in the background. Typical Weiss.

"Well you know his parents have separated, so they are about to sell this house. It's kind of like, I dunno, Sun's last hoorah there I guess. I dunno. It's weird. I've known his family for so long. It's odd for them to not be together. I've spent a lot of breaks at that house when we were in college. I'm going to miss it." Now that you say it aloud, you realize that you are going to be kinda sad not ever going back there after tonight.

"Such is life I guess."

"Yup. Are you done filing those nails yet?"

"How did you-"

"I may not have the best eyesight, but I can hear pretty well. So either you're filing your nails, or you need to see a doctor about that rash you keep scratching." She laughs at your terrible joke, making you smile a little bit. You also garner a strange look from the guy behind the counter at the store.

"Okay, well I'm going back to work. I'll see you tonight."

"Bye Weiss."

The cashier rings up all the bottles and checks your ID before giving you the total.

"That will be $343.28."

"Holy Gods, are you for real?"

"I'm hoping that you're having a party, because if not, I know some support groups you can attend."

Unamused by his joke, you nod in acceptance and insert your card into the machine. Sun better pay you back for his half.

—

"Hey Bellabooty, can you fill this back up with vodka while I get the orange juice?" Sun sways a little bit as he saunters back to the fridge, handing you a huge glass container.

"Yeah sure Monkey Boy. Whatever you say." Holding onto the container a little harder than you meant to, you place it unsteadily on the kitchen counter. "Wow, I think I may be a little drunk."

"That's because you are drunk. You've had like.. at least four shots of whiskey by now."

"Five." You think you're holding up five fingers, but you can't say for certain. So you just keep waving your hand in Sun's general direction.

"Five what?"

Pressing your fingertip against the bridge of your glasses, you press them back up your nose in an attempt to collect yourself before you answer.

"Shots. I've consumed five shots. Into my body. From a glass." Too much Blake, too much.

"Oh yeah.. glad to see you're having fun." You see him look past your shoulder and towards the door. You try to swing around to look but you have to grip the edge of the counter so you don't fall down. "And I think you're about to have a lot more fun in just a minute."

"Oh?" You swirl the alcohol in the shot glass before you throw it back. It doesn't burn anymore, letting you know that it's time to ease up. Maybe. "And why do you say that?" Turning to face the way Sun has wandered off you bump into someone you didn't know was standing behind you. "I'm so, so sorry. I didn't-"

Weiss is staring you down. She looks perturbed. Yes, that's the word. Perturbed.

"What are you wearing?" Not really sure what she means, you look down at your clothes. Did you forget to put on pants or something? No. Or maybe you forgot to put on a bra? You quickly pat yourself down to check. Nope, not that either.

"I dunno." She rolls her eyes. "What am I wearing?" You really just aren't sure what it is that you may or may not be wearing. She pokes the end of your nose and you arch your neck backwards.

"No you dolt. I'm talking about your glasses. I didn't know you even wore glasses." She smells nice. Something floral. Like magic.

"Uh yeah. I don't wear them a lot. But I didn't sleep very well last night. And then I had a lot of errands to run today before the party. Then by the time I got home I was rushing and didn't have time to change them out for my contacts." She's giggling at you, which must make you look confused.

"You talk a lot when you're drunk, which you clearly are." She leans in close to the side of your face and you freeze from the proximity. "And you smell like a distillery."

"Thank you."

"Not exactly a compliment, but I do like your glasses." A smile spreads across your face even though you try to contain it. "So, what is there to drink in this place?"

"Literally everything. I think I bought half the liquor store."

"Then tried to drink it."

"Ha, ha. And I've only had like.." You have to take a second to think back on tonight's events so far. "Six shots. Yes, six."

"Well you're about to do another one, so take this." The glass has some kind of clear alcohol in it. At this point it doesn't really matter what. You drink it and place it back down before Weiss has even lifted hers off the counter. "Okay, well I can see that you are already in party mode. I'm going to go mingle. I'll be back."

—

You aren't really sure how long it's been. But you know you stopped drinking at least an hour ago. Because it was roughly half an hour before Sun almost started a fire making pizza bites in the oven. Which was another half hour before you wandered outside to the fire pit. Which is where you have been for a while now. So the alcohol is starting to settle the haze in your brain. It's not clear by any means, but happy go lucky Blake is beginning to disappear and regular moody Blake is finding her way back in.

Somehow you, Ruby, Nora, Neptune, Weiss, Ren and Pyrrha decided to play "Never Have I Ever." Obviously this is a bad idea to play when sober, and drunk is no better. By the third round the questions have gotten more and more.. we will call them suspicious. All the standard and boring questions have been asked, so it's started to get interesting.

"Never have I ever.." Ruby, dear sweet wholesome Ruby, she's struggling to find questions devious enough. "Never have I ever.. ah ha! Never have I ever kissed a girl." How sweet, she's so proud of herself, you think as you lower one of your fingers and look around to see who else has fallen victim.

Pyrrha, Nora, Ren and yourself all lost on that one. Which the only real surprise for you is Pyrrha, so when you make eye contact with her, she immediately moves to defend her choice.

"Hey, it was college. And you can't knock it til you try it right?" She's a little tipsy, but has zero shame in her game so you shrug and think nothing of it.

"Wait, what girls have you been kissing, Miss Belladonna?" There is a definite slur in that question. You turn to face the drunken Schnee.

"I'll have you know, Miss Schnee, that in college I was quite popular with the ladies even though I never chose to take full advantage of it." She furrows her brow, displeased with your answer. "I notice that you didn't put your finger down. As prudish as usual I'm assuming?"

"I will have you know that while I may have not ever fraternized with someone of the same sex, never have I had an issue in that department." She is blushing. Time to antagonize.

"Good to know."

"And why is that?" She tries to stick her nose up, but she loses her balance on her chair and seemingly the little bit of drunken dignity she possesses.

"Maybe I was getting worried, is all."

Wait. Are those tears? Oh dear Gods. You weren't really trying to upset her. You want to say something but the last bits of alcohol are weighing down on your ability to make decent decisions.

"Did Ruby say something to you?" Her tone is accusatory and it's kind of scary. Out of character.

"Ruby? No? I'm sorry about what I said I didn't mean to upset you."

"Ruby!" Ruby snaps to attention like when your parents catch you doing something you were told specifically not to do.

"Uh, yeah Weiss?" Oh yeah, she's scared. But like a true hero, she gets up and sits down next to Weiss.

"Did you tell anyone?"

"Tell anyone what?" Ruby looks like she's searching her mind for past conversations that may tip her off on the trail of whatever Weiss is talking about. You see when the lightbulb goes off. "Oh, you mean about that guy that you had maybe been seeing, but kinda not really seeing that you said is like perfect for you," Gods bless those air quotes. "But that he always leaves you to go back to his wife or girlfriend or something?"

At this point, you feel like you are watching a soap opera plot unravel in the first person. It's thrilling but also kind of sad at the same time. Ruby is trying to console a pretty drunk Weiss as she mumbles about how no one has ever taken her out on a real date and how guys always treat her like garbage. And she wishes someone would treat her the right way. Ruby is being a total champion, letting Weiss drone on and on. All while you watch from a few feet away. Not saying a word.

At first it was mildly amusing. Watching Weiss drunkenly struggle to articulate what was wrong, as Ruby patiently waited for her to finish. But the longer it went on, the worse it made you feel. Sure, Weiss is unique. Maybe even a little, okay a lot, weird. That doesn't mean that she should have to feel like she doesn't deserve to be treated well by someone and actually cared for. It hurt you in some kind of way that you would've never anticipated. You aren't really sure why. But Weiss is your friend. One of your good friends. She should be treated like the ice queen that she is. Standing up, you straighten the front of your shirt and clear your throat. And before you can stop it, the last little cloud of alcohol passes from your mind to out of your mouth.

"I think that it's terribly shitty." Your abrupt statement makes a few people look up at you as you continue on. "Weiss, I think you are a pretty amazing person. And you deserve to have someone take you out on a date. And treat you nicely." She looks appreciative that you agree with her sentiments. "And I think I would like to take you out on a date."

It takes a few second of complete stunned silence from everyone present and the totally wide eyed look from Weiss for it to register what you just said. What you just said out loud. In front of many people. Blake, what the hell are you doing? What the hell did you just say? Why did you say that? What is wrong with you?

Before you can even start to answer these questions, you are turning the key in the ignition of your car and driving off down the street. You get about five minutes down the road before you stretch out a shaky hand to press dial on your favorites list.

"Sun?" Your voice is shaking. Are you crying? Are you about to cry?

"Yo, where are you? I've been looking for you. Everyone said-"

"I think I just asked Weiss out on a date. In front of like five other people. Like an actual like I'll pick you up at 8, go out to dinner and a movie date, date."

"Are you serious? Where are you at? What did she say?"

"I don't know what she said."

"What do you mean you don't know?"

"Well, I left."

"Why did you leave? You were drinking a lot Blake, you shouldn't be driving."

"I had to leave."

"Okay, whatever you say. And we can talk about this whole Weiss thing tomorrow once we are both sober. You sure she didn't say yes? And what are you going to do about Adam?"

"I gotta go. I'll see you tomorrow." You disconnect the call before he can answer. Quickly, you type out a message and send it without reading over it.

_Hey, I need to talk to you, right now. Can you come to the apartment? _

Unfortunately, his response is almost immediate.

_Yeah, sure. I'm on my way._

As you continue the remainder of your 30min drive home your resolve is solidified. You know what you have to do.


	9. Street Side Breakup and Indoor Breakdown

Chapter Nine.

When your scroll rings for you to buzz someone through the gate you almost don't hear it. You've been sitting in the parking space in front of your apartment for the last half hour. Waiting. Waiting for what? Oh yeah, Adam. Waiting for Adam because you messaged him at 3:47am that you needed to talk to him ASAP. Why did you need to talk to him so badly that it couldn't wait? Oh yeah, Weiss. Dear Gods.

The haze was beginning to actually start clearing from your mind. But you're still what you would call drunk. In no position to be making life decisions. That's for sure. Which just makes you more angry on top of all the types of confused that you feel. Glancing at the side mirror on your door you see Adam's car, the one with the broken radio display, pull up in a nearby space. When he moves to get out of the car, something in your brain triggers, and you fling open your own door. This has to be on your terms.

"Hey, what's going on? I tried to call but you didn't answer. Is everything okay?" He moves toward the stairs at the front of your building, as though you would be going inside. He notices that your arms are folded across your chest, all but tucked securely into your sides.

"Get in the car." Even you are surprised by the curtness of your voice. Shaking the disbelief out of your head, you open the passenger side door of his car and sit down inside. The dark cloth seats are clean and the car smells like the body spray of a teenage boy. Well, at least it's clean, you think to yourself.

"Blake, what's going on?" He turns to face you as soon as his door closes. The silence consumes you for a split second. You never thought that you would really get to this situation.

"I just think it's better if we have this conversation here. And not inside." You motion towards the apartment.

"Are you drunk?" He's lightly sniffing the air. Trying to detect what he already knows.

"No, I bathe in whiskey these days. It's better for my skin." You roll your eyes. Still agitated. But it's not at him. Which makes you feel guilty for being snarky. "I mean yeah I was drinking this evening. But that's negligible."

"Did something happen?" There it is, the glint of anger flashing in the depths of his eyes.

"Gods no. Nothing happened. But I realized that I needed to talk to you about things. About…" you draw in a breath you wish you could keep inside and let it suffocate you and then you could die in peace and not have to speak anymore, "about us."

"Oh. Well okay." The anger slowly fades, like when a candle runs down to the end of the wick. You release the breath you've been holding.

"I want to do this in the best way possible. But for what this is, I really don't think there's a best way." The small nods he's giving let you know he knows where you're going with this. "I mean, we've been together for over a year. And I can't say how it feels for you, but for me it just doesn't feel anymore."

"No. I get what you mean." Drawing your eyes up to his face you see that he can't look at you.

"And I'm tired of doing whatever it is that we are doing, or not doing. And having it become increasingly unfair to each other." You wish he would contribute something. But he's just sitting there, nodding his head. Not looking at you.

After ten or so seconds that felt like eternity, he huffs out a breath and looks up at you. You had a lot of expectations about how this would go. Anger. Yelling. Lots of yelling. But not this. He's crying. Wiping the tears from the corners of his eyes in shame. You reach over the center console towards him. For what, you don't know. But he waves you off.

"It's okay Blake." But he must be able to read the look of doubt on your face. "I think we've known for a while that this wasn't going to work out like either of us had hoped. To be honest, I don't even know what I was hoping anymore." He laughs, but it's fake and hollow. Wiping the palm of his hand across his right eye one more time. "I just hope that we can still ya know.. be friends." It's the first time you've felt relieved all evening. But you can't start handing out false promises.

"I need to take some time. Figure some stuff out. But I definitely won't count that out."

"Guess I'll take what I can get." The two of you sit there for a few moments in total silence. Just taking in that you dissolved the remnants of what little relationship you had left. "So, I don't mean to be rude or insensitive about this whole thing, but I have to be at work in a few hours. And I think it just may be best if I left anyways, considering… you know."

"Oh. Oh yes. For sure. I need to go to sleep too." You fumble in your pocket for your keys and scramble to collect your bag. After you exit the car and shut the door you hear the window roll down and turn to face him for the last time this evening, or morning now.

"Hey Blake, can I ask you one more thing? And you don't have to answer if you don't want to." Your tired eyes blink shut and reopen slowly as you give a short nod of approval. "Is there someone else?"

You think for a second, the rest of the evening washing back over you.

"No." A pang hits you in the chest, but you can't identify the feeling. "But I wish there were."

Your head hangs forward as you descend the stairs to the door of your apartment, listening to the sound of car tires grind against pavement and off into the night.

—

Part of you wants to flop on the couch and die. The other part is screaming inside your head for you to wash your face and brush your teeth. Fortunately for you, the voice was loud enough to win.

Wiping the toothpaste from the corners of your mouth and tossing the towel back onto the hook behind the door, you make your way into your room. Finally. Your bed. Just you and no one else.

Turning your lights to a dark, deep blue you lay down. Ready for sleep to claim you. But it doesn't. Your mind is swirling. Running marathons while your body can barely move. What the hell happened today? First you got stupid crazy drunk. Which is understandable. That happens. Then you remember the feeling you got when you listened to Weiss talk about never having someone treat her decently. Also understandable, right? I mean, Weiss is your friend. You should want your friends to be happy. All the time. That's normal. But standing up in front of your friends and Weiss and asking her out on a date? What the hell was that even? What were you even thinking? And Weiss is a girl. Not that you have anything against it. For Gods' sake, you live with Sun. He's basically what you find at the end of the rainbow. It's just something you had never considered for yourself until now.

Not to mention, you didn't even wait for Weiss to answer. So not only are you acting like a lunatic in front of your friends, but you are also rude. You've been so overloaded by how what you did made you feel you completely forgot to think about how Weiss is feeling. Horrible. That's what you are. Horrible.

Then there's Adam. Which, of all the awful things you've done this evening, that was probably the best choice. Maybe not exactly the right way to do it, but it would've been done regardless. But you owed it to him to end things before something did happen, no matter what or who it was with. But in the street? Damn. Graceless.

For the first time in a long time, you really don't know what you even feel or who you even are. What you do know is that there's one thing that keeps spinning around your mind, entangling within every thought. It has silver hair and deep blue eyes. You don't know what to do anymore, so you let the tears hit the pillow and cry yourself to sleep.

—

The park is perfect. This is a park, right? Looking around there's a bunch of perfectly manicured grass and pristine walkways. Spotting your favorite spot, you make your way toward the large tree with a bench underneath.

The bench is a medium wood with iron embellishments, worn from time. You take your seat at the left end. You always sit in this exact spot. Or do you?

Looking forward, you see a rolling fog. Odd, seeing as how it's a perfectly clear day. The weather is nice and flowers are blooming. Must be spring. Which is weird. Because it was winter yesterday. But never mind that. The sound of running water tugs at your Faunus ears. Along with a light hum that wasn't there just a moment ago.

"The river is truly amazing. So beautiful." You know that voice. It's calmer than it normally is, but it belongs to Weiss all the same. She's sitting to your right. Was she there this whole time? More importantly, what is she talking about?

"Weiss, where did you come from? And you can't see the river. It's too foggy."

"Is it though?"

A sharp sound begins echoing all around you. What does she mean? And what the hell is this terrible noise? She stands up and begins to walk away from you.

"Wait Weiss! Where are you going?"

"It's time to go."

The sound is getting louder, drumming down on your Faunus ears. Shaking the bench. The ground begins to crumble and fall in on itself. There's a final crack like thunder and everything goes white.

Well, not everything is white. It's just the ceiling of your bedroom as you swing your arm wildly looking for your scroll so that you can turn off your alarm.

Nothing like a weird dream to start off the day. But you'd rather stay with dream Weiss, than face real Weiss. Which is exactly what you will have to do today at work.


	10. Business as Usual

Chapter Ten.

When you opened your eyes this morning you expected to be greeted with a moon shattering headache. But to your surprise, it's not there. Considering you only slept three hours, you will take it for the miracle that it is.

You eat breakfast and have some tea while you go through your typical morning routine. Mentally making a note to ignore the shit show you started for yourself last night.

_'__I'll just deal with those repercussions as they come I guess.' _You think to yourself as you swing your backpack over your shoulder and lock the front door behind you.

The first few hours are quiet at work. Repairs are a pretty chill job. It's a shame you aren't given more time to do them. Neptune is with you in the repair room this morning. So the previous night's antics were being kindly swept under the rug. You're sure Neptune had his own fair share of bad decisions. But he was looking worse for wear. His electric blue hair had no gel in it, and it was falling down like a wet mop.

In an attempt to break the silence you try to make conversation without involving what happened with Weiss, in case he was oblivious.

"You feeling alright down there?" Choosing not to look up from your repair, you continue turning screws in the Scrollbook in front of you.

"Girl, I think I'm actually dead and this is some kind of trans existential experience."

"Or you might just be still drunk." The groan you hear in response makes you think that he might just be needing more alcohol.

"I wish I were still drunk. Maybe then I wouldn't feel like I've been dropped out the side of an airship." He closes his eyes and leans back in his chair.

"Well, you look a little bit better off than that."

He perks up a little bit, taking it as a compliment. "Oh thanks, boo."

Shaking your head you return back to your repair and try to put seeing Weiss as far out of your mind as possible.

—

A few hours pass and you grab your ScrollTab to go start taking some appointments. You cautiously open the door that separates the front of the store from the rest of Scroll, but you don't see a certain silver haired girl.

'_Thank Gods.' _You think to yourself as you begin your first appointment of the day. Pushing your worries to the back of your mind, you power through. That is, until you see Sun. He looks.. what's the word? Oh yeah, dreadful. He looks terrible. He's pale, there's bags under his eyes and he might be shaking you can't tell for sure.

"Hey, you're alive." He looks around like he's lost. "Where's Weiss? Wasn't she supposed to work today?"

That makes you nervous. Was she sick? Or maybe she was just so mortified by what you did and said last night that she quit her job and moved back to Atlas to live with her family. That's a logical explanation for her not being here, right? No Blake, don't be stupid.

"I don't know. I haven't talked to her since… well you know, yesterday." You pretend to be busy on your ScrollTab to avoid the conversation.

"Oh yeah. That is crazy." He rubs the back of his neck, like he does when he doesn't know what to say.

"Yup."

"By the way, while I unfortunately remember this, I had to go to the apartment before I came to work this morning. And I may have thrown up on the living room rug. I tried to clean it up, but the smell just made me throw up again. But I'll deal with that when I get home tonight, sorry."

"Honestly, I could care less about rug vomit. I got plenty of things to worry about. I can clean it up for you when I get home. I don't want to leave it sitting on the rug while I wait for you to come home. That's kinda gross."

"Yeah… I didn't think about that part. I owe you."

"Meh, I'll add it to your tab."

"Fair enough." He saunters off towards his next customer.

—

The clock finally hits five and you cannot wait to leave. Quickly, you clock out and grab your bag. Digging for your keys as you walk to the car, and throwing on your sunglasses. You always rush to see if you can beat the worst of the traffic when you're off at five. It's either haul ass and get home in 20 minutes, or take your time and get home an hour or more later. Today is a haul ass kinda day. That and you have some vomit to scrub out the carpet whenever you get there.

You throw your backpack into the seat next to you and find a playlist to listen to on the ride home. Time to get the hell outta here. As you get to the traffic light at the shopping mall exit, you receive a scroll message. You know that sound. It's Weiss' message tone.

"Help me Gods, please dear Gods help me." You know the pleading is far too late. You peek over at the scroll sitting in the cupholder. You can see the message notification but you can't read it from where it sits. Your heart is pounding like a sledge hammer in your chest. "It's not like the fate of the entire world is in that text or anything Blake, calm down. It's just a text." Cautiously, you reach out for the scroll, only for the light to turn green, so you withdraw. Safety first.

Hands back on the steering wheel, you continue on your journey home. After the first few songs finish playing on the radio, you try to psych yourself back up.

"Okay. You got this. What's the worst that could happen? She may just never want to speak to or see you ever again." The message tone goes off again, another message. "Shit." You lightly slam your fists against the steering wheel repeatedly. Too antsy to make a decision. "They aren't going to read themselves Blake, might as well just get it over with." Greeting your teeth, you reach over for the second time. As your hand brushes the edges of the scroll case it starts ringing. "Holy shit." Hitting the button on the edge of the steering wheel you answer it.

"Hey Neptune, what's up?" Feeling relief wash over you because you can go another few minutes without checking those messages you let out a ridiculously deep breath.

"Sorry to bother you. I thought you were still at work, but then I realized that you had already left so I figured I'd just call you instead."

"Everything okay at work?"

"Oh yeah, yeah. This actually isn't about work at all. I was just calling to invite you to the birthday thing that me, Nora and Ren are having in a few weeks. We are gonna hit up that new Vacuoan taco bar place that's down by where you and Sun live."

"Sounds cool. Just let me know when you guys decide on a day and what time and I'll be there."

"Really? Awesome. I'll let you know once it's planned out."

"Can't go wrong with tacos. Ever."

"Amen sister. Well I'll talk to you later, or I'll prolly just see you at work tomorrow or something."

"Cool. I'll talk to you later." Disconnecting the call, you glance back over at the scroll, still resting in the cupholder.

"Nope. Not yet. Can't seem too desperate." The rest of the way home you take the opportunity to sing as loud as possible. Drowning out your worry with your assuredly lovely singing voice.

—

When you got into the apartment you set your scroll down on the dining room table and tried to forget it was there. Messages still unread. But there is only so much you could pretend to do around the house until you find yourself sitting at the table, staring down the scroll like it owes you money.

"Why is this so difficult? It's just a text. Check it." You make no move towards the scroll. "Come on Blake, what are you afraid of? Oh nothing, only everything. And Weiss." A shaky hand stretches out and you quickly snatch the scroll from the surface of the table. "Just do it. Now or never."

Swiping up to unlock the screen, you touch the messages icon and find Weiss' conversation thread and select it. Drawing in the deepest breath you've ever tried to breathe, you open your eyes and look down. Reading the messages in her voice, inside your head.

_Please tell me I'm not the only one with a hangover that could've caused the crack in the moon. Literally slept all day. Just woke up._

You release that deep breath you had been holding the whole time you read the message. Did Weiss not remember what happened last night because she was too drunk? Or was she just choosing to avoid the topic for the sake of saying you both from the awkwardness? You have no idea.

Taking a second to get back into a calmer mindset, you tap the reply box to send her a message back.

_H_ey_, sorry. Was working all day. I feel fine. Sun though, not so much. _

Really, that couldn't be further from the truth. You figure it's probably best to play it off like nothing happened. You don't want to ruin one of the few good friendships that you have. That's what you and Weiss are right? Friends. Yes. Friends. The two of you continue messaging back and forth. Nothing different from your usual banter. Maybe you dodged a bullet this time. Maybe her not remembering is a good thing, you think. But at the same time, it kind of feels like something isn't where it should be.

Shrugging the weird feeling off, you grab the carpet cleaner and some towels. Time to go clean Sun's vomit off the living room floor.


	11. Tacos and Tequila

Chapter Eleven.

This was an error in judgement. Going out with everyone. It has been nearly three weeks since your, well you're just going to call it the day you won the awkward awards by asking Weiss out on a date in front of a bunch of people at the fire pit at Sun's house. But you'd never know, because life has carried on like that moment never occurred. Which you admittedly think is weird in itself, but you don't really want to press Weiss into giving you an answer you may not be ready to hear or have her acknowledge your absurd behavior.

But here you all are, well most of you, at Neptune, Nora and Ren's combined birthday party. Of course it's at a bar. A taco bar, nonetheless. And yet again, everyone is drunk. Weiss arrived in her now signature, late fashion. Yang couldn't make it because she said she had other plans. Sun, by the looks of it, is dancing with an invisible person like his life depends on it. But hey, that's tequila.

So far, there's only one small problem. You don't like tequila. Not that you won't drink it, it just gives you terrible heart burn. You still manage to share some celebratory drinks with the group, but chose to stop after the second one. No one needs a repeat of what happened last time. It's been a busy night. There's a lot of your Scroll coworkers here and you aren't one to socialize. That's much more of Sun's area of expertise. Somehow you've still managed to stay with your people until the restaurant is closing up for the night. And you know what that means, time to help the drunks get home.

After about 20 minutes of arguing and borderline combat, you get Nora, Ren, Ruby and Weiss into your car. Ren isn't drunk, but he carpooled so he needed a ride back to his car. And Nora is like a BOGO. Buy Ren, you get Nora free, and vice versa. Ruby was just as peppy and cheerful drunk as she was sober, so she hopped right into the car. Weiss, not so much. She wasn't cooperating nearly as well as the others. She refused to get into the car, and stormed her way back into the closed restaurant for another margarita. They were closed, but it didn't stop her from taking one of their glass cups out the door on her way. Once she was back in the parking lot she decided to invite everyone still present over to her apartment. Unfortunately, that meant you had to get her there.

"Please put your seat belt on, Weiss." Considering your usual demeanor, you felt like you asked pretty nicely.

"Please put your seat belt on, Weiss." She pokes your shoulder while making a mocking gesture with her face. Everyone in the back seat knows better than to become a part of what is about to happen.

"I'm not going to ask again. Put the seat belt on, or I'm going to put it on for you." The stern tone in your voice is lost to the alcohol swirling in Weiss' veins.

"Oh please, we are just going-" she looks around like she might not remember where she is "down the street a little ways." She waves you off and moves to talk to someone in the back seat. At this point, you're getting tired and kind of agitated from dealing with Weiss and her shenanigans. So you reach out and press her shoulders back against her own seat. Leaning across her, grab her seat belt with your left hand and pull it diagonally across her body and clip it into the buckle at her left hip.

There is a look of shock spread across her face when you look up. You're really close to her face. You always know you're too close when you can see the scar below her left eye. It's usually covered almost entirely by makeup.

"Too close." You whisper under your breath, and pull yourself back over into your own seat. "Now, sit still. And where exactly are we going?"

Drunk Weiss is still sitting relatively motionless, as well as speechless in the seat beside you. Thankfully, Ruby speaks up and provides you the directions you need to get everyone to Weiss' apartment.

When you get out of the car, everyone files up the steps. Everyone except Weiss, who is wobbling her way around at the bottom of the steps.

"Hey Ren, if I push her, will you pull?" Motioning towards Weiss, you begin helping her ascend the stairs. Ren nods in agreement and the challenge begins. Which this shouldn't be as hard as it is, Weiss is small and weighs virtually nothing. But tonight she feels like 100% dead weight.

About seven steps from the top, Ren lets go. Is it an accident or on purpose? Who knows. Who cares. All you know is that Weiss is falling your way, and you don't have time to brace for impact. You grab hold of her the best you can. She collapses over your shoulder, and you feel a sharp pain shortly after you wrap your hands around her waist and start climbing the stairs once more. When you reach the top you come face to face with Ren, he repeatedly apologizes, which you brush off. Pulling the keys out of Weiss' purse, you turn them in the lock and everyone files into the apartment.

—

Once everyone has settled down at the apartment, they take the opportunity to smoke on the balcony, or drink and eat whatever food Weiss has managed to have that hasn't expired. Most people are drunk and either have to work tomorrow or are just tired and start finding their ways home. Sun decided to continue the party, opting to head downtown with Velvet and Neptune to hit up a gay club. That leaves you, Weiss, Nora, Ren, Ruby and Cardin. Cardin, yuck. He's not someone that you've ever cared for. You don't even know why he showed up. He isn't of age, so he couldn't even drink. What's the point in going out if you can't even drink with everyone else? All you know is something about him is suspicious. You don't like it. And you don't like him.

So while Ren and Nora work out their transportation plans, you keep your eye on Cardin. Well, not really your eyes. But you were definitely listening. It doesn't take long for your Faunus ears to perk up when you hear Ruby raise her voice in a tone that is very uncharacteristic. Cardin had made a few attempts to.. persuade Ruby at the restaurant. Judging from Ruby's continued response, she was uninterested. But Cardin kept pushing. Once he decided to give up on Ruby, your eyes followed him across the room, from the kitchen over to the balcony. He knew better than to mess with Nora while Ren was so close by. Just as luck would have it, right before he moves to open it, the balcony door slides open and Weiss all but stumbles in. He catches her in his arms, and you see his hand slide its way up the side of her shirt and around her back. Weiss is far too inebriated to be able to voice her disinterest, but the look on her face says enough.

Something in your brain snaps. You hop off the chair you've been sitting on and make your way over to Weiss. Cardin has leaned down and is saying something to Weiss, but the look of disgust hasn't left her face.

"Alright Cardin, enough is enough." You wedge yourself between the two of them, forcing him to remove his hands from her. "I think it's time for you to go home." You nod your head towards the front door.

"Why so grouchy, Belladonna? I was just having a nice chat with Weiss. No harm." You roll your eyes, shivering at the slimy sound of his voice.

"How about you worry less about why I'm grouchy and worry more about what's going to happen to you if you keep putting your hands on girls that can't say no." Your jaw clenches. You aren't one for confrontation, but this fight would be absolutely worth it. "Because if you do it again, and I see it or find out about it, I swear to Gods I'll break both your hands."

You brace for whatever comeback he's preparing but it doesn't matter. Because a drunk Nora has overheard all she needs. Standing up on the couch she clenches her own fists and yells into the air "LETS BREAK HIS HANDS!" There is a crazy wild look in Nora's eyes that has you kinda scared.

Ren immediately snaps to his senses. Cardin looks terrified. Weiss is staring with her mouth open, looking like a dying fish. Ruby looks excited, hands clasped together from her place on the couch. Time to end this evening before something bad actually happens.

"Okay, I think it may be time for all of us to go. Weiss needs to get some rest before work tomorrow. So I think it's best if we call it a night." Nora looks like she just found out she didn't get a puppy for Christmas. Cardin all but runs out the door. Ren offers to take Ruby as well as Nora home.

"Hey, um.. good luck with" Ren looks over your shoulder to Weiss half passed out on the couch "that. You're going to need it."

"Shouldn't be too bad. Just going to make sure she makes it to bed then I'll head home too." Ren pats your shoulder as he closes the door behind him. Hearing the three of them walk down the stairs to the car, you turn around to face the hot mess that awaits.

You leave Weiss hanging off the couch while you take the time to get her some water, pain relievers and set them on the nightstand next to her bed. You also plug in her scroll and ask the virtual assistant to set her alarm for the morning, so Weiss can make it to work on time.

"Hey Weiss, do you want to change into pajamas, or sleep in what you have on?"

"This… is… fine." Her voice is barely audible, her face shoved into a pillow or maybe one of the cushions. You can't tell.

"Okay, well let's get you into your bed so you are more comfortable. Something tells me that you're going to have a rough morning." Sitting down next to her, the dip of your weight on the couch makes her roll over and look up at you.

"I don't want to move."

"Well, we are going to move, so you can either let me help you stand up or I can pick you up and carry you there."

There is a look on her face that makes you smirk a little bit. "You wouldn't dare." Decision made. You stand up and lean over her. Swooping your arms under her knees and behind her upper back you pick her up and walk down the hallway to her room. "Put me down this instant. I am not incapable of walking. This is ridiculous."

"You had a choice. You chose not to make the right decision." Once you reach the edge of her bed, you let her drop down onto the mattress. But only a few inches. Wasn't like you flung her down or anything.

"Gods, be careful. I am fragile."

"More like dramatic." You help her get underneath the sheets and pull them back up for her. "Okay, I set your alarm for the morning and I put a glass of water and some pain relievers here for you in the morning, you're going to want those."

All you receive in response is a light mumble as she settles down into the sheets, getting comfortable.

"Alright, well I'm going to head home, so I'll see you later. If you need anything or get sick you can call or message me." Turning away, you are almost relieved that it's time to go home and sleep. But not even a full step can be made before you feel a light scratching on your forearm. Weiss is swinging her arm out, trying to pull you back towards her.

"What's up Weiss?"

"I wish you could stay with me forever, but I know you won't. You are too nice to me."

You don't even know what to say. Something about her words pains you. There's a tightness in your chest. You look over at her outstretched arm and brush your thumb across the top of her hand.

"You know I will never leave you unless you ask me to." She mumbles in drunken, sleepy affirmation. She probably didn't even hear you. And she most likely won't remember it tomorrow morning. "Goodnight Weiss."

Finally, you make your way to the door, making sure to take her key and lock it behind you. You place the key behind the decorative wreath that hangs on her door. Typing out a quick message to her scroll to inform her of the key's location, you hop in your car and make your way home.

—

That night you sleep better than you have in a really long time, but still it's not near enough. Having to wake up the morning after a night of chauffeuring the barely lucid and fighting off a disgusting pig had been a struggle. You would've loved another four hours of serene and uninterrupted sleep. But you promised Weiss you would message her and make sure she was up in time for work this morning.

The response you get is an audio message, which consists of Weiss whining into the scroll, saying that she is pretty sure she is still drunk and feels awful. You shake your head, unable to hide the smile that forces its way across your face. Heading into the kitchen, you find Sun making coffee. You grab your mug from the cabinet and begin to heat up some water for tea. It's a typical morning for the two of you. That is until Sun starts maniacally laughing.

Unsure of what his deal is you turn to him, "What's up with you? Why are you laughing like the God of Darkness over there?"

"You just look like you had a fun night last night is all." He's still laughing, which continues to confuse you.

"Why would you say that?" Your Faunus ears lower themselves, showing how unamused you are.

He points to your left shoulder. Looking down, you see the strap of the black tank top you have on, but nothing else out of the ordinary. "I still don't see what is so funny."

"No, look a little farther back, you woman of the night!"

Sure enough, on the back side of your left shoulder is a perfect set of bite marks. Thinking back on the entire night, you can't think of a time where anyone would've gotten close enough to you to do that. You also don't remember someone biting you. And you feel like that's something a sober person would remember.

Excusing yourself from the kitchen, you briskly walk back into your room. Finding your clothes hamper, you begin to rummage through it until you find what you're looking for, the shirt you had on last night. When you inspect it closer, you see a distinct shade of light pink lip gloss on the shoulder. There's only one person that could be responsible for this. Picking up your scroll, you quickly flip through your contacts to the very bottom, selecting the name and initiate the call.

"I know Blake, I drank waaaaayyyyy too much last night and I should be ashamed. And I won't be late for work, I promise."

"Weiss, I'm not calling about that. This is going to sound weird but, did you bite me last night?"

"Given the state of my inebriation and our proximity, it is highly likely that I may have bitten you while you carried me up the stairs. But wait, you aren't mad at me are you?"

You roll your eyes so hard you probably could've checked out your own ass and tell Weiss to just finish getting ready for work.

You peer out of the doorway into the living room to see Sun eavesdropping. Wiggling his eyebrows suggestively he says "Getting kinda toasty with the ice queen?"

The pillow flies through the air so fast, Sun barely has time to grab it with his tail. It doesn't really matter because the second pillow hits him in the head so hard it almost gives him whiplash.


	12. Mushrooms and Menagerie

Chapter Twelve.

It's a typical Tuesday. Yup. Just a plain old Tuesday. Holiday time has started at work. So by typical, you really mean insanely busy. Which makes your day off all the more amazing. What's even more amazing is that Sun has chosen to take some time off and go see his family before Christmas. And just like the year before, and the year before that, you are staying in Vale. Your parents aren't exactly thrilled with your choice, but working a retail job doesn't make it easy to come home for holidays. That, and Menagerie isn't exactly across the street. It's a long, long airship ride. An expensive one too.

But that's all just details, details at this point. You love Sun, but it's nice to have a few days to yourself. You can also wander around the apartment with no pants on. Of course, you would never do such a thing, you're just thinking about it is all. Whatever. Just an idea.

Another idea that you had was to make yourself something fancy for dinner. And by fancy, you mean something that doesn't have directions for how to prepare it on the outside of the box. Because honestly, you love cooking. You absolutely detest doing dishes. Which is why it's good to have Sun around. He does all the dishes when you cook. But right now, he's not around so you had to weigh the pros and cons of doing your own dishes.

Screw it. If you want to eat something delicious, you have to cook something delicious. And that requires delicious food to cook. Snatching your keys off the hook by the door, you get into the car and head to the store.

—

You hate grocery shopping. Really, you don't mind buying the food. But you've had at least four people come up and ask you if you're finding everything okay. And you just smile and say thank you and yes, that you're just looking. It's not their fault that it's their job to bother you. You're the one that's gone up and down about half the aisles at least twice. You probably should've thought about what you were going to make before you drove all the way here. So far the only thing in your basket is some sliced mushrooms. The only thing running through your head is the number of "Fun Guy" puns Yang would be making if she were here. Laughing quietly to yourself, you wander over to the meat section and begin looking for your main course, when your scroll starts to ring.

"What are you doing?"

"Oh hi Weiss, is this question meant to accusatory or inquisitive? Because I can answer either way."

"It's inquisitive, you dolt. And hello."

"I'm currently at the grocery store, buying food because I wanted to make something super amazing for dinner."

"Oh why is that?" Now she seems inquisitive. "Do you have someone coming over or something?" And now she sounds accusatory.

"Um no, not really. Sun has gone to spend the holidays with his family so I thought I would make something good to eat. By myself. Unless you are trying to invite yourself over. Which is fine. I can cook for you as well."

"Well I wasn't um, well I mean-" You wonder how long she wants to continue stuttering.

"Weiss, you are more than welcome to come have dinner at my house. I seriously don't mind."

"Since you are so insistent."

"I wouldn't say insistent, but I am officially inviting you-"

"Perfect! What time should I be there?"

"I'm just going to grab a few more things here and then head home. So like maybe in an hour or so? Is that okay?"

"Sounds amazing."

"I don't know if I would call it amazing, but sure. Oh, do you like mushrooms? I was planning on making some but I know they aren't everyone's thing. Sun hates them so I never get to eat them. So I was going to make some while he was gone. But if you don't like them, I can make them another day and make something else for today."

"Blake, you're rambling. And mushrooms are fine. I like them. Do you need me to bring anything?"

"No, no I should have everything we need. And I'm already at the store so I can get everything I need here." Your voice fades off while you stare blankly at the desserts in the bakery section.

"Oooookay then. I guess I'll see you soon?"

"Yup. Sounds like a plan."

"Fabulous. Goodbye." For some reason your mind is blank. Weiss has already disconnected the call, but you're still holding the scroll up to your ear.

"Do you need help finding anything, ma'am?" Dear Gods not this again. These people are relentless.

"No thank you. I'm just taking my time is all. Thanks though." Shamefully, you grab some baking mix and head the opposite way down the aisle, towards the cash registers to pay for everything you've collected.

—

About 30 minutes later, you're running around like a crazy person. Fixing pillows, vacuuming, spraying air freshener. You would consider Sun and yourself to be ridiculously neat and organized people. So there is absolutely no reason that you should be running around your already spotlessly clean apartment trying to clean for someone that has been here before and knows how meticulously clean you are. Eventually you give up, opting to head to the kitchen to begin to prep all the food for dinner.

You had already started the dessert you wanted to make. Brownies. Just plain old brownies, nothing fancy. There was a special reason for making them today, but that wasn't Weiss' business, that was tradition. They only needed like two or three more minutes in the oven. Opening almost all the cabinet doors, you pull down everything you need to make the steak, mushroom and vegetables you bought at the store. The timer goes off to let you know the brownies need to come out of the oven. As you pull the oven door open towards you, your scroll begins to go off letting you know that Weiss has arrived at the gate. Quickly, you reach over to your scroll and buzz her through.

She doesn't even bother knocking, just waltzing through the doorway like she pays rent here too.

"Something smells really good. What is it? Smells like chocolate."

"Kind of you to knock. And it is chocolate. But it's for dessert, so keep your fancy Atlesian hands off of it." She pulls back her hand from the glass pan. "It's also very hot because I just took it out of the oven so be careful."

"You could've said that before I tried to touch it." The glare on her face is enough to make you smile.

"Well maybe you will learn for the next time. Would you like some coffee? I made some for you."

"Yes please." She takes a seat at the dining room table and turns to face you while you continue your work in the kitchen. "Do you need any help?"

Sliding the coffee mug across the table to her you quirk one eyebrow. "And what exactly do you know how to cook besides instant noodles, Miss Schnee?" She takes a sip of her coffee and surprise creeps across her face.

"Who said I know how to cook? And how do you know how I like my coffee?"

Walking back into the kitchen, you continue cooking dinner. Things need to be seared, sautéed, stirred, flipped, all the things. "I do stand next to you while you order and I am not deaf, so I have listened once or twice."

Weiss plays on her scroll for a few more minutes while you keep cooking. Eventually, she gets bored of whatever social media has to offer and wanders up next to you, looking on as you keep cooking. Even with Weiss' "help" you manage to get everything on plates and you both sit back down at the table to eat. She comments on how good the food is and you can't help but feel a little proud. This was the first thing you've eaten all day so it could've tasted like dirt and you probably still would've eaten it. After a few minutes, you get that feeling like when someone is staring at you. Cautiously you look up to see Weiss looking at you with a pensive look on her face.

"Do you have amber eyes?" It takes you a second to process her question. Probably because it's so random.

"Yeah I guess so, why?" You've never really thought about it too much before. Both of your parents have the same color eyes as you. Nothing special.

"I've just never realized that you have amber eyes. That's all. They almost look gold."

There is a small awkward moment of silence before Weiss clears her throat and looks down at her nearly empty plate.

"And your eyes are blue and icy, just like your soul." You stab the air with your fork in her direction. Trying to lighten the mood.

"Ha, ha. At least I have a soul."

"Is that some kind of Faunus joke?" Keeping your voice as serious as possible, you lay your silverware across your empty plate. You hear the slight gasp leave her mouth as her jaw hangs open.

"I totally didn't mean it that way. It was a jo-" She waving her hands up in front of herself defensively. You decide not to torture her any longer and break character, laughing.

"I'm totally joking, Weiss. We both know I probably don't have a soul." The relief washes over her and her shoulders hang down in defeat.

"You know, you really aren't funny sometimes." She swats at you as you grab her plate off the table and stack it on yours, moving to set them in the sink. Time to get these dishes out of the way quick, fast and in a hurry.

"Oh I know. I'm not funny. I'm hilarious."

The worst part about cleaning dishes is having to touch the wet and soggy bits of food. Totally nasty. But thankfully, you have a pretty nice dishwasher. Methodically, you load the dishes into the machine in the order you prefer.

"Let me help with the dishes, it's the least I can do since you wouldn't let me help you cook."

"Yeah, because I wanted to be able to eat the food." You bump your shoulder against hers as she takes the place in front of the sink.

"Not short on jokes this evening, apparently." She continues washing the dishes under the running water and hands them to you to load into the washer in the way you like.

You scroll starts ringing on the table a few feet away and you look over to see who could possibly be calling to bother you.

"Oh shit. I forgot. Damn, damn, damn." You wipe your hands on the towel in front of you and move to grab your scroll before the call ends.

"What did you forgot?" You hold up your finger, asking for Weiss to give you just a minute as you swipe to unlock the scroll and answer the call.

"Hey Mom! Sorry I forgot to call. I know I said I would call at six, but I was eating dinner with my friend Weiss and I forgot to message you to change the time." Weiss looks at you with this 'how could you forget to call your mom' face. You roll your eyes in response.

"_It's totally fine, Blake. I was just worried that something had happened so I figured I'd just go ahead and call you myself." _

You mouth an "I'm sorry" to Weiss and she brushes you off, taking a seat across from you at the table. You mute your end of the call and look at Weiss apologetically. "I'm sorry, I forgot that I told my parents I would call them tonight. I can tell her that I need to call her back."

"Don't be ridiculous. It's your mom. Anyways, I'd love to say hi."

Suspicious. Why would Weiss want to talk to your mom? Oh well. You put the call on speaker and set the scroll face up on the table in front of you. Your mom is droning on about some plants she recently planted and how Sun would absolutely love them.

"Mom, I put it on speaker so don't say anything embarrassing. Weiss just wanted to say hello." Again, you roll your eyes.

"_Oh hello, dear. So nice to meet you." _Typical mom enthusiasm.

"Hi Mrs. Belladonna, such a pleasure to meet you as well." And a typical prim and proper Weiss Schnee to match.

"So Mom, I know you said you guys were going to call me, where's Dad?" The small beat of silence after your question is the only answer you need.

"_Well honey, your father got stuck working late this week so he told me to let you know he would call you and make it up to you. He said he was terribly sorry for missing the call because it's your day and all. And he doesn't want you to think that he forgot or anything-"_

"It's not a big deal. I'm sure he's really busy. I can talk to him another day. You know I don't like to make a big deal of it anyways."

"_Okay, well I don't want to keep you from your friends. But are you sure you can't make it home this holiday? It feels like you haven't been home in a long time." _Yet another eye roll that you can't hold back. "_If it's because you don't have the money, we are more than willing to buy your tickets for you-"_

_"_Mom, it's not about the money. I have money. If there were more time and work wasn't so busy I would come home. It's just not easy with my work schedule."

"_Well, if you change your mind you know you can come home whenever you like. I love you, Blake. I'll talk to you soon."_

"Okay Mom, love you." As you tap the red button to end the call you lean back in your chair and sigh.

You didn't notice when Weiss had gotten up from the table, but she returned with two plates, each with a piece of brownie on it, and slides one in front of you.

"So you're really not going home to be with your family for the holidays at all?" She shoves a small bite into her mouth and her eyes widen. "Oh damn this is excellent."

"Nope. I mean, sure I love my parents but I just don't fit in with them. That and Menagerie is farther away than Atlas is. And you aren't going back there either so…" Twisting the fork in your hand you grab a piece of brownie and chew it slowly. You don't know too much about Weiss' family, other than that they are from Atlas and have more than a little bit of money. Weiss also has a sister named Winter that still lives with her family in Atlas. But Weiss never really volunteers information about her family, so you've never tried to pry.

"I don't think I'll ever go back to Atlas unless absolutely necessary." She offers nothing additional. So you continue eating dessert in relative, but comfortable silence.

—

After you finished dessert and Weiss has another cup of coffee while you drink some tea, you both decide to call it a night. Weiss grabs her bag prepares to leave. Quickly, you cut a few extra pieces of brownie and place it in a container for Weiss to take home with her. You almost have to sprint to chase after her to the car. By the time you catch up, she's already in the car, engine running with the driver's window down. You reach out and hand her the container.

"Here, these are for you."

"You didn't have to."

"But I did because I wanted to."

"Thank you for letting me basically invite myself over for dinner and crash your phone call with your mom."

"Oh you know, anytime." Suddenly feeling out of place, you shove your hands in your jean pockets and rock back and forth on your heels.

"By the way," the inflection in her voice pulls your gaze up to meet hers "happy birthday, Blake." It makes your Faunus ears stand up. How did she know?

"Thanks, I don't really like to celebrate it anymore. But it was nice to spend the day like this." Is she blushing?

"Well I guess I'll see you tomorrow at work?"

"Yup. I work the mid shift tomorrow. Good night, Weiss."

She smiles at you as she rolls up the window. She does that stupid little wave where she only uses her fingertips as she backs out of the parking space and drives off down the street. Leaving you to watch as her car disappears into the dusky light.


	13. Roadside Assistance

Chapter Thirteen.

"It's 7:45am on a Saturday, this better be good Weiss." That's the nicest thing you can manage to say as you're ripped from sleep by the blaring sound of your scroll. You can hear the distress in her voice as soon as she starts talking.

"I am on the side of the road in Gods knows where and my tire is flat and I have to be at work in less than 30 minutes! This is the opposite of good!" You can tell she's frustrated.

"Oh really? I had no idea. How unfortunate." Rolling your eyes, you swing your legs out of bed, knowing where this conversation is going to lead.

"I already called the tow truck guy or whatever but can you please come get me and take me to work?" There is a slight bit of sweetness hiding in her voice, which makes you all the more suspicious. You finish tying your shoe laces and grab your keys. You're already halfway out the door when you start to question the situation.

"So, why do you need a tow truck if it's just your tire being flat? And send me your location." Hopping into your car you receive the dropped pin location from Weiss and start on your way.

"Well, you see…" All good Weiss stories start this way. "What happened was that there was a sign. And I may have not been paying attention and lightly grazed it."

"Uh huh, and then what?"

"And then I over corrected and slammed into the curb and popped both tires on the passenger's side."

"Was there at least a squirrel or something? Maybe a chipmunk in the road? Or were you just totally not paying attention?"

"Sure, there was a squirrel." Okay, so there definitely wasn't a squirrel or any other small furry being in the road. She was just reckless.

"Okay, well the GPS says I'll be there in about seven minutes, so I'll see you soon. Stay in the car. Don't go wandering out into the road like the hypothetical squirrel."

"Ha, ha. Very funny. I'll see you soon."

—

After about ten minutes of arguing with each other while the tow truck guy gets Weiss' SUV on the flat bed, Weiss finally gets into your car so you can take her to work.

"I'm going to literally murder you for that." She is all huffy, throwing her purse down into the floorboard of the passenger's side of the car.

"Well I don't want to spend my entire day off listening to you haggle with the tow truck man. You need to get to work, and I would like to go home and continue sleeping or doing something else." Now it's Weiss' turn to roll her eyes at you. "And it was only like 109 lien. It's not a big deal."

"It wasn't about the money, it was about the principle. I'm paying you back for it too so don't even think about it."

"Yeah, no you aren't. But that's an argument for another day. You're already late for work so would you like to get a coffee on the way?" Might as well, if you're going to be late, be late. Weiss weighs the options in her head for a few seconds before answering.

"Fine, but we have to go through the drive thru, we don't have all this extra time to sit inside."

"Whatever floats your boat, ma'am."

The coffee shop isn't far from the Scroll store. Only like a mile or so. Pulling up to the ordering box thing, what is it even called anyways, you order a black tea with peppermint for yourself and an iced coffee with almond milk, two shots of espresso and 2 sugars for Weiss. She gets furious when you had the cashier your credit card and pass the coffee handed to you over to Weiss.

"Damn it Blake."

"Damn it Weiss."

"I'm being serious. At least let me give you money for the coffee, it's like 5 lien."

"I'll think about it. Or maybe you can just pay for it next time we go."

"Ugh" she stomps her foot as best she can in the limited, seated space. "Fine."

By now you've managed to make it over to the Scroll store. You pull as close to the employee entrance door as you can get to drop Weiss off. You are just about to pull away from the curb when you see Ozpin glaring your way through the glass wall. He gives you his signature wave while sipping his coffee. You awkwardly wave back. You don't work today so it's not like you're the one in trouble here. Weiss curses under her breath, knowing she's about to get in trouble for being late but still doesn't leave the side of your car.

"Before I go into hell, I have one more small favor to ask of you, but you can totally say no."

You motion with her hand to continue with what she was saying, tapping where your watch would've been if you had put it on this morning.

"Can you take me later today to go pick up my car from the shop? That is, if you don't mind. But if you have plans or something else that's totally okay, I know it's Saturday and you are probably going out or something."

Of course you have nothing else going on in your life. You aren't working. Adam isn't a thing anymore. Sun has his own life and work. You weigh how much longer you are going to make her wait for a response, remembering Ozpin is eagerly anticipating Weiss' presence.

"I'll be back towards the end of your shift to pick you up." Nodding in confirmation of her request.

"Okay. Perfect. Awesome. Um, I'll see you later, if Ozpin doesn't kill me."

"Have a good day at work." She waves you off and makes her way to the door, disappearing behind it.

—

With nothing else to do until you need to go back to get Weiss, you figure it's probably best to just head home for a little while. Once you get there, you eat some breakfast, clean the kitchen and continue getting ready for your day. You finish the few chores you intended to get done around the house and sit down to read for a bit. But the book doesn't seem to be holding your attention as strongly as you would like. Your thoughts are drifting away on you. Elsewhere, maybe to a particular employee at a particular Scroll store. Who knows. Doesn't matter. All you know is that it would probably be a good idea to get out of the house for a few hours. Get some fresh air, or maybe buy a new book to read. Yes, that sounds like an excellent idea.

Checking the time as you head out of the apartment, it's only a few minutes before noon. You still have about six hours until you will need to go get Weiss. So you make the choice to head over to your favorite local bookstore. It's not one of those huge chain stores with a name brand coffee shop stuck in the middle of it. This is a tiny store that's nestled in the middle of downtown Vale. It was an amazing place you stumbled upon on one of your drunken nights out with Sun a few years back. You ended up taking a photo of the closed store with your scroll, and sober you managed to figure out how to get back to it. Ever since, it's been your go to spot for a relaxing day with a good book.

As you open the door and walk through into the store, the bell rings above the door, alerting the owner to your presence. Tukson, the elderly gentleman that runs the store comes out from the back and greets you like family.

"Oh hello Blake! Good to see you back. It's been what, a month or so?"

"Yes. I've been really busy at work and just haven't been able to find the time to come back in, unfortunately." You give him your best apologetic look and start browsing.

"Well, regardless, it's always a pleasure to have you here."

"Do you have any recommendations or is anything selling particularly well that I should check out?"

He purses his lips and squints his eyes, mulling over a few things in his mind before bridging the gap between the two of you.

"There is one book that a few people have been coming in looking for lately. And of course, we have added a few new additions to our poetry section that I'm sure you will want to take a look at as well."

"You know me, always a sucker for some poetry." For some reason it makes you smile, knowing that he remembers what his patrons like to read. Must be why his business has remained so successful for all these years. You head over to the poetry section and begin scoping out a few of the new arrivals while he hunts for the other book.

"Here you go." Handing you the book he was searching for, he leaves his hand extended out to hold the books you had already picked for yourself. "Would you like me to hold onto these up front for you?"

"If you wouldn't mind, thank you. And I'll go ahead and get this one as well."

"Really? Very trusting of my recommendations, I see."

"You haven't steered me wrong before. Plus I feel like I've heard a few different people talk about this one, so I'm sure it will keep me busy for a little bit." At this point you've followed him back up to the register to pay for the three books you've selected.

After he rings them all up and puts them in a canvas bag for you, you pay what you owe and head over to your usual spot near the window to start reading. After a few minutes, Mr. Tukson returns with a mug of tea for you to sip while you read.

"This one is on the house, for a loyal customer."

"Thank you sir."

"Not a problem. I'll leave you to it. Enjoy your books."

You spend the next four and a half hours reading this book he had recommended. It wasn't terribly long, roughly 300 pages. But you were dead set on finishing it. You guess that's why you've been more into poetry lately. It's a lot easier to put down and come back to later. Not novels.

So you read, and read and read. It's a story about a woman and a man that met while they were at university. They fall in love but the guy ends of chasing after his career goals while the woman won't give up on her own goals to be with him, so they part ways. She lives on, marrying another man and having children. But old buddy shows back up in her life out of the blue, and they end up having an affair. There is an accident and old buddy ends up passing away, but she is pregnant with his child. It's a hot ass mess from start to finish. Not really your kind of book. It wasn't exactly bad, but it wasn't something you would consider an award winner. No offense to the author. Just not your style. By the time you finish the book, the sun has started to get a little lower in the sky and you check your scroll for the time. You have about 30 minutes until you have to meet Weiss, so you say farewell to Tukson and start the walk back to your car.

—

You arrive at Scroll about ten minutes before the end of Weiss' shift. You take a seat in the store while you wait for her. A few people say hi to you as they wander by, still trying to get their jobs done. Until now, you haven't realized how hungry you are. You forgot to eat lunch, spending the entire afternoon reading that lackluster book.

Fifteen minutes go by, Weiss is still working with her customer. It looks like she's trying to help them upgrade to the latest model of scroll. That fifteen minutes slowly rolls into 45. Which then in turn rolls deathly slow into an hour. By the time the two of you are actually leaving the store, Weiss has apologized about 500 times it seems. Honestly, you don't really mind, you're just crazy hungry. Hangry, if you will.

"Do you like sushi?" Before Weiss can even answer you shake your head. "Doesn't really matter. I'm starving. And since you ever so rudely woke me up at the crack of dawn on my day off, we are going to get sushi. And you can just deal with it."

Weiss opens her mouth to protest but you give her a sharp look that silences her before she can even begin.

You really don't care for seafood. But man, can you eat your body weight in spicy tuna rolls. Weiss ordered some kind of fancy Atlesian wine and is sipping on it while she nibbles on some kind of sushi with avocado in it. Inhaling, that is the best way to describe how you are eating the tuna rolls you've ordered. As soon as they hit the table, you were ready.

"So what did you do today while I was busy suffering at work?"

"Um, not much. I did some chores at the house and then I went to the bookstore. I ended up reading this book. It wasn't really that great, to be honest." You go on and give her the name of the book and she gives you this look like you just kicked her dog. Turns out that it's one of Weiss' favorite books of all time. Who'd have thought. Doesn't change the fact that you didn't think it was that great. But Weiss is on her second glass of wine and you don't really feel like arguing, just eating.

After about the third plate of spicy tuna rolls, you look up to see Weiss watching you. Her eyes are slightly glazed over and the wine glass is empty in her left hand. What a lightweight.

"What?" You say as a piece of rice falls from the corner of your mouth. Classy Blake, classy.

"Do you believe in soulmates, Blake?" You don't miss the slur in her words, it makes your Faunus ears perk so that you can hear absolutely everything she says.

"In what way? I mean, do I believe that there is one person in the universe that completes someone else perfectly? Or that they will make someone happy in a way that nothing else possibly could? That they're meant to be together forever? I dunno. I don't really think so."

Weiss lets out a small sigh, barely noticeable but with your acute hearing you catch it. You can also smell the wine on her breath when she sighs. Apparently it wasn't the answer she was hoping for. She pours more wine from the bottle into her glass.

"You are an awful girlfriend." Before you can stop it, your eyes widen and your Faunus ears begin to flit uncontrollably. But you don't say anything. Weiss just continues drinking her wine.

Before you can question anything, the waiter returns and tries to lay the check on the table. Pulling out your credit card with lightning, alcohol free speed, you pay for the food. Weiss tries to object, but the wine makes it impossible so she concedes to defeat.

After you leave the restaurant the two of you continue your tradition of aimlessly driving around while Weiss performs impromptu karaoke and interpretative dance in the seat next to you. You stop so that you can put gas in your car. Weiss still sings the remainder of the drive to the repair shop. Which it has taken you roughly an hour to get to since you left the sushi place. Pulling up next to Weiss' white SUV, you put the car in park and wait for Weiss to do what she needs to.

"I paid for it over the phone today and I have an extra set of keys so you can just drop me off and go home." You nod and mumble an okay as you continue to listen to the song playing over the radio. She grabs her bag and heads over to the small key drop box and picks up some paperwork before walking to her car. You feel your eyes following her a little too long. And you notice when they linger on her as she opens the passenger door and sets her bag down. You lean out of your car window, resting your chin in your hands. Now is the perfect time to antagonize her. Why not?

"Take your time, ice queen. It's not like I've basically waited on you since eight this morning."

Her back stiffens. She straightens up and turns, prancing back over towards your car, she crosses her arms in opposition. Like she's about to fight back. So you look at her with anticipation. She opens her mouth to say something, but changes her mind halfway through. So instead she just stands there with her mouth hanging open like a dead fish. Sensing that she's waited too long to deliver a snarky comeback, Weiss turns on her heels, flinging her long white hair over her shoulder as she goes, acting like she's pissed off about being called ice queen.

You call after her. "Have a good night, drive safe and message me when you make it home okay." You see her stomping walk lessen in force as you turn back to the inside of your car, trying to find some music to listen to on your way home before you get on the road. After a few seconds, you hear a light rapping on your window and look up to see Weiss lightly stomping her foot with her arms crossed and a troubled look in her eyes. Rolling down the window, you wonder if her car isn't starting or something.

"You okay? Is the car okay?"

That is the last thing that flows into and through your mind and out of your mouth right before Weiss leans down into the window, pressing her lips against yours. Light as feathers.

"Goodnight, Blake."

You remember hearing Weiss' car start and the sound of tires rolling across pavement as she drove away. But you don't remember driving yourself home. You don't remember walking into your apartment. You don't remember Sun asking about your day. You don't remember washing your face, or brushing your teeth. You just remember Weiss.

And there is nothing else.


	14. Workplace Delivery

Chapter Fourteen.

As per the usual, neither Weiss nor yourself ever speaks of what happened in that car shop parking lot. It's been about a month or so. No discussion. You have just continued on like normal. And by normal, you mean throwing insults and relentless teasing back and forth. And it always starts first thing in the morning, with whoever wakes up first and sends a message to the other. Recently, you've added car repair and driving insults to your repertoire. The most effective at eliciting a response thus far has been the threat of buying Weiss a tire iron.

But jokes and antagonizing aside, you are at a loss. What the hell are the two of you doing? What did Weiss mean when she said you were an awful girlfriend? The two of you weren't dating. You knew that for sure. So what did she mean by using that word? And what in the absolute hell did the kiss in the parking lot mean? Why haven't you been able to just ask her? Oh yeah, because you're a coward. Scared to death. But why hasn't Weiss said anything about it? She's never been the type to shy away from anything. You had even made a few attempts to slide it into conversations. But each time, Weiss would dodge it. Or ignore it all together. The whole thing is just beyond confusing. You need help. An objective point of view. Someone that could know a little bit, but not too much. Just to see if you can figure out enough to determine what was going on.

Yang. Yang would be your confidant. She knows both of you. And she would be able to give you some decent advice. You trust Yang. So one day you catch Yang right after she finishes helping a customer and you jump in.

"Oh hey Yang. Are you busy today after your shift?" With the obvious look of suspicion on her face she looks you up and down before answering. Maybe you sounded a little overzealous.

"Why are you trying to make plans? You never make plans. You never want to leave your house. Are you dying, or sick?" She wasn't wrong. Introversion was your strong suit. Going out and being social was someone else's thing. Someone with long white hair.. anyways.

"Look Yang, I need help." Concern spreads across her face and she leans in closer to you.

"Is it drugs? Do you need money?"

"What? No! Are you insane?" She shrugs as if to say anything is possible. "I need your honest opinion on something that is getting messier and messier and I don't know what to do about it."

"Is that why you seem all twitchy and nervous?"

"I'm twitchy?"

"Kinda. But anyways, just meet me at the coffee shop when your shift is over. I have some work to do on my ScrollBook, so I can wait for you there."

"Okay, awesome. Thanks." She slaps you a little harder than necessary on the shoulder and walks off to find her next customer.

"What was that for?" Weiss' voice puts a chill in your veins.

"Oh, uh nothing. Yang was just helping me with something really fast. You know how she is. Always so hands on."

"Hm. Whatever you say." You wave her off and rush off into the repair room.

—

Once your shift is finally over, you grab your bag and head down to the coffee shop to meet up with Yang. She's hanging out in the patio style area in front of the shop. You sit in the chair next to her and get as comfortable as you can possibly get.

"Hold on just a second, I have to finish this email and then we can have this little girl talk thing."

"I wouldn't call it girl talk, but sure."

After another minute or so you hear Yang click send and close the lid of her ScrollBook, turning her full attention to you.

"So Blakey, why have you gathered us here today?"

You quickly delve into the story. You occasionally get fumbled up, losing your train of thought, but Yang brings you back on point. She helps you slow down and work your way through the struggle of talking about your problems. You tell Yang almost everything, you don't mention the parking lot kiss. Just because it felt incredibly personal for you. And it wasn't something you were willing to share or discuss with anyone other than Weiss. Even though it wasn't like you or Weiss had shared anything about it after the fact.

Yang takes a second, taking a long sip of her drink and sets it back down on the table in between you. She's thinking. You can tell because she's looking, but not really looking. And her eyes aren't fully open, but they aren't squinted either. She looks you dead in the face before saying what's on her mind.

"Well, how do you really feel about it? Like, what are your intentions with this?"

You don't really know what to say. So you take a second to think. What do you really want from this?

"I don't know. I'm having a hard time with it. I feel like I want to pursue this, maybe see where it will go. But any time I try to slide it into a conversation or bring up something that has happened, Weiss always finds a way to skirt it. Or seems oblivious."

"Maybe you just need to be a little more direct with your approach."

"What do you mean?" You really are a clueless moron, it seems.

"I'm not going to say everything because it's not my place to, but you should know that Weiss isn't as oblivious to what has been going on as she would like you to believe." Well, damn. "So, maybe do something outside of what is normal for you. Put yourself out there. Do something that would require her to respond."

"Okay." You drop down into your thoughts, but know you need to acknowledge what Yang said. "I probably need some time to figure out what to do. But at least I have an idea of where I need to start. Thanks for helping me out with this, I owe you."

The rest of your evening you sit with Yang and discuss less stressful things, like Scroll store drama and Yang's business she runs when she isn't at Scroll. It's been going well. And unfortunately for you and Weiss, that means Yang is starting to spend less and less time at Scroll.

After you leave the Beacon outdoor shopping mall, you begin to return home and begin searching online for things you can do to garner Weiss' undivided attention.

—

As soon as you get home you throw your backpack on a chair in the living room and head straight into your bedroom. You pull off your work shirt and toss it into the dirty clothes basket at the back of your closet. Grabbing your ScrollBook off your dresser, you flop down on your bed and get to researching.

You go through the motions. Doing searches for things like "what to do to find out if someone is interested in you," "how to tell if someone likes you" and "how to tell if you like someone."

"Good job, Blake. You've regressed back to middle school." Unfortunately as you say that, Sun is walking past your room down the hallway towards his own bedroom.

"Why are you regressing back to middle school? It was an awful time. That was back when I thought I was straight and just had a weird obsession with plants."

"You still have a weird obsession with plants." You don't really see where he was going with that.

"Yeah well, anyways. What are you up to? And what are you, and by you I mean we, having for dinner?"

"I'm just looking online for something. And I was planning on making some chicken or something in like an hour or so. Unless you have a request for Chef Belladonna."

"Shopping huh? Looking for a Valentine's day present maybe?" Of course, how could you be so stupid. It's the perfect opportunity. "And chicken sounds good to me. Let me know if you need help. I'm going to go watch some tv for a bit."

How could you be so dumb? Valentine's day is next week. It's basically the perfect opportunity. Duh Blake, duh. You open a new browsing window and find a vendor for what you're looking to order. You search for about ten minutes before finding the perfect thing, select it and send the order through for delivery. Weiss will have no choice but to acknowledge it. I mean, it's obvious, right?

—

The next week when you walk down the sidewalks of the outdoor shopping mall where the Beacon Scroll store is located, you can't help but be annoyed by all the red and pink decorations. Sure, you love the holidays as much as the next person. But this one has never been your favorite. I mean, it's named after some old dead guy that probably had nothing to do with love in the first place. And of course, the people of the city had to take it upon themselves to make the name even more cheesy. Vale-ntine's day? I mean, come on, honestly.

Maybe it's just the nerves you have had eating away at you all morning and afternoon, since you ordered the flowers and chocolate covered strawberries to be delivered to Weiss while she was at work. You had to work the opening shift, while Weiss worked a closing one. So you specifically scheduled the delivery in the later part of the afternoon, to insure that both of you would be there. And that you could make sure it arrived before you went home at the end of the day.

So all day you waited. Not so casually staring at the door. Looking out of the glass windows that separated you from the outside world, all day long. Waiting. But six o'clock rolls around and nothing ever came. You even stayed an extra half hour past your shift, but still no delivery. Maybe something happened? You checked your email a million times to make sure the order was confirmed and the address was correct. Maybe the delivery person got lost, or there was an accident? Who knows. All you know is that when you clocked out, there was no sign of the delivery guy.

Ceding to your immense bad luck, you toss your backpack over your shoulder and make your way to the front door. As you walk through, Weiss catches your eye like always, she gives you a small smile and waves goodbye to you from across the store. Trying not to look like someone just kicked your puppy, you give a weak smile and wander out into the evening to find your car.

You mope and feel dejected, passed over by the unknown delivery person the entire drive home. As you unpack the storage containers you use to take your lunch to work, you notice a small box at the bottom that you know you didn't pack. When you open the box a small note falls out onto the table, but the box itself is full of tiny sea salt caramel chocolates. Which just so happen to be your favorite kind of chocolate. You read the note to yourself as you chew on the first piece of candy.

"_Hey you dolt, I don't really like these stupid cheesy holidays. So happy Vale-ntine's Day. ~ Weiss." _

How did Weiss even know these are your favorite chocolates? You don't recall ever telling her before. Just as you reach down into the box for another chocolate, your scroll goes off. You have a message from Weiss. Rapidly followed by another. And another. At least seven or eight times. Unusual. Weiss isn't an avid texter. You pick up the scroll and unlock the screen to read messages that any normal person would be terrified of.

_I hate you. _ _It was so embarrassing _ _Everyone keeps asking who they are from. _ _I told people my mom sent them to me. _ _ At first I thought I was going to open the box and find a tire iron. _ _It was incredibly sweet._

__ __Especially coming from someone that is such a demon, like you.__

You smile so hard that your cheeks hurt. It feels like you're smiling for the first time in days. It feels good. Quickly, you type out a response.

_You're welcome. Happy Vale-ntine's Day, Weiss._

At first you added the little heart emoji to the end of the message, letting your finger linger over the send button. But doubt bubbles up and sucks the shred of confidence you have. You delete the little heart and finally press send.


	15. Atlas, Shrug

Chapter Fifteen.

Relentless. That's the only way to describe your day at work. The customers have been relentless. Difficult issue after difficult issue. And it seemed like they were getting more and more angry as the day went by. You had to ask for a manager twice already. Which is something you hardly ever do. That alone was frustrating.

"Why should I have to back up the data on my scroll? Doesn't this company make it? Then this company should be saving my data for me."

"No ma'am, that's not how it works. The data is your responsibility. It's clearly stated in our terms and conditions." You're saying this for what feels like the millionth time. But you explain it one more time.

"Well then I may as well stick this scroll right in the garbage."

"Ma'am, that's totally up to you where you stick that scroll." This time the lady slams her scroll down on the table and storms out of the store.

At this point, your mental fortitude has been worn down too hard for you to even pretend to care. You look down at your ScrollTab and breathe in deep. It's almost time to go home, only one more appointment to go.

You press "begin" in the middle of your screen and you're surprised to see the name that pops up. Weiss Schnee. Turning on your heels to look at the place marked for her seat, you see her sitting there in her every day clothes, waiting for someone to help her with her scroll.

"Hey." You give her a half hearted smile. "What have you managed to break now?" You're so run down from the stressful day you've had that you can't even make it seem like you're trying to tease her.

"I dropped it last night so I need to get it fixed before I cut my hands or something." She says in the most nonchalant voice and you nod in confirmation as you take the scroll from her and turn it over in your hands, inspecting it.

You go through the motions on your ScrollTab to get Weiss' scroll checked in for repair. You can feel your eyes getting heavy. You're so tired. You take a deep breath and let it go audibly. After you finish typing up your repair notes you drag your tired eyes up to her face, she's watching you.

"I'm guessing I don't really need to explain how this works to you? Or I'm hoping that I don't." You turn the ScrollTab around so that she can sign the confirmation page.

"Are you okay? You totally passed up an opportunity to tease me about breaking my scroll, and you have barely said ten words to me so far." There's a slight look of worry in her eyes.

"It's nothing. I'm just having a rough day at work, and I'm exhausted."

"Well, then I guess it's probably not a good time to tell you that I have to go back to Atlas at the end of next month, is it?"

As if the day couldn't have gotten any more awful than it already was. Spinning the tablet back around to face you, you print out a label for her scroll and grab it from the printer inside of the table.

"Oh." It slips out of your mouth as you fight for your life inside. You feel your heart sink down in your chest, while at the same time it feels like you've been sucker punched in the stomach. All while you try not to look completely devastated. "But you're coming home, right? You aren't just going back to Atlas, right?" Wow. Great way to not look desperate, Blake.

"I'll be back." A small wave of relief hits you. "My grandfather is having surgery, and someone needs to be there with him. And my dad is making me do it."

"Yeah." It's all you can force out of your mouth.

You sit in relative silence for a minute or so. Another technician walks over to grab Weiss' scroll and take it to the repair room to get fixed. Weiss must be able to see the look of disappointment on your face because she leans over on her stool and lightly scratches the back of your arm, just above your elbow to get your attention.

"Hey, you know that I'm only going because I have to. And I'll be back. I promise."

You clear your throat. Knowing you need to play it off like you're fine. Like the metaphorical world isn't crashing down around you.

"No, I know. I've just had a rough day is all. Family is family." You break eye contact. It's not that you couldn't look at her forever, but it feels like you might actually cry right now if you do. "Um, do you need me to help you with anything else or are we good? I kinda really want to go home."

It makes you all the more upset when she quickly shakes her head, and tells you to try and have a better night. And that she will message you once her scroll is fixed. She light scratches the back of your arm one more time and it almost makes you sit back down with her, but you manage to rip yourself away and go home.

—

Later that night you find yourself sitting on the patio of your apartment. Rocking back and forth in one of the two rocking chairs, sipping dark liquor from a short heavy glass. When Sun comes home a little later he takes the seat next to you.

"You seem kinda down tonight, even for Blake, but this is more down than usual for sure."

You apathetically grunt in response, taking another sip from the glass. It's almost empty, but it's the fourth, maybe fifth one so that's inconsequential.

"Weiss has to go back to Atlas." Sun doesn't say anything immediately. He just nods in response. You can see him out the corner of your eye flicking his tail like he does when he's trying to choose his words carefully. Your heightened Faunus hearing allows you to hear the quick breath he draws in.

"Blake, you should be careful with Weiss." You stop rocking. "It's not that I don't trust your judgement, but I can't say that I trust her. And I don't want to see you hurt. I would hate to have to have the ice queen turn up missing if she breaks your heart." You can tell he's trying to lighten the mood, but it misses the mark.

"Weiss and I are just friends, Sun." Your voice is hollow.

"I've known you a long time Blake, and I know when you aren't sure about something. And I'm not saying, but I'm just saying, be careful."

He gets up from his seat and walks back inside. But not without swatting one of your Faunus ears with his tail on his way.


	16. Sidewalk Revelations, Yang Style

Chapter Sixteen.

It's been about a week since Weiss may have potentially crushed your spirit by telling you that she has to go back to Atlas. But you think you're doing fairly well pretending like it's not happening and continuing on like nothing is bothering you. It's even been a pretty good day at work so far.

It's a Yang day. Which is always a good day. The energy is just different whenever Yang is around. Kind of uplifting. Which is kind of sickening in its own right, you decide.

But Yang's mood is as infectious as always and it has had you smiling and laughing throughout the day. You have to admit that it's been a nice break from the brooding you've been doing more of lately.

You finish up an appointment and Yang appears out of nowhere, like a blonde cheery ghost. Kinda scary, but kind of okay at the same time.

"Hey Blakey, got any plans after work today?"

"No, not really. I need to go to the store and pick up a few things, but nothing like.. life changing. Why? What's up?" You close the drawer you were putting some cables back in and look up at her.

"Can we talk for a minute when you're off?"

"Aren't you off like two and half hours before me, Yang? I'm not going to make you sit around and wait for me that long. Is it serious? I mean, of course we can talk. I just feel bad making you wait for me that long." You can feel the anxiety start to creep through you.

"Oh, no, no, no. I don't mind. I brought my ScrollBook and I can do work while I wait. I also need to go exchange some clothes that I bought last week that don't fit just right. My ass is slight bigger than I would like these days." She puts her hand on her hip and looks back in mild disappointment. You're still anxious about what could possibly be worth Yang lingering around for hours after her shift to tell you.

"Okay, well if you're sure then I'll meet you right out front of the store after my shift if that's cool?" Yang nods in agreement and bounds off to her next appointment, her long blonde her bouncing behind her as she goes.

—

Fast forward, four hours later. You've let your mind wander to the ends of Remnant and back. You've almost given yourself an anxiety attack from worrying about what Yang needs to tell you.

When you walk out of the store at eight o'clock, Yang is there to greet you with a cup of tea in hand.

"I got the kind you like with the mint stuff in it. I had to message Weiss and ask what kind because I always forget."

"Thanks. You could've just messaged me, you know. I know what kind of tea I like too." You raise an eyebrow at her.

"Yeah but you would've given me grief for trying to buy you tea in the first place. Asking Weiss was actually easier." She stops walking for a split second. A look of disbelief on her face. "Never thought I'd ever hear myself say that." She chuckles to herself then immediately shakes it off, getting serious. "Okay, now let's go for a nice little walk and cut to the chase."

She takes the lead and you follow without question. She leads you to the end of the shopping mall and takes a seat on the edge of the sidewalk and you take the cue to do the same.

"So, why have you gathered us here today?" Mimicking her line of questioning from before.

"Listen Blake, I just want you to know that I consider you and Weiss to be two of my best friends. And I spend a lot of my free time with both of you guys. And I love you both equally."

"Why does this sound like you're about to tell me someone's getting divorced?" You take a sip of your tea. It's slightly bitter, could use a smidge more sugar.

"What I'm trying to say is that I know how close you and Weiss are. And it's different from the way you and I are friends, or the way Weiss and I are friends. Which is totally okay. I just don't want to see either one of you guys get hurt. Especially not by each other."

"What are you trying to say Yang?" You wish she would just get to the point before you actually do have an anxiety attack. Your eye has started twitching.

"I'm just going to rip the band aid off then. Blake I don't know how else to do this."

"Yang, just say it before I have a heart attack or a nervous breakdown."

"Weiss is going back to Atlas." That's it? That's what she was causing you to get so worked up for hours over? "And I just thought you should know. Because she can get rather selfish. I've known Weiss for a few years and I don't want you to get upset when she just disappears for months." She braces for impact.

"Yang, Weiss told me last week that she has to go back to Atlas."

"OH THANK GODS." Yang almost melts with relief into the curb where she's sitting. "I told her she needed to tell you, but she acted all Weissy, like she wasn't going to tell you. Like she was just going to wait for me to explain it to you, while you were all broken hearted after she'd already left."

"No, she told me early last week. But she never said how long she would be gone.." The worry starts to creep back in, Yang just said she disappears for months. Weiss never actually said how long she would be gone. Surely she wouldn't be gone too terribly long. Ozpin wouldn't allow a leave of absence for more than a month or so. Surely, right?

"Yeah well the thing about Weiss is that you never get a real answer." You feel like you would know that better than anyone else, but anyways. "The last time she went to Atlas she was supposed to be gone for two weeks, she came back two months later. She didn't call or message the entire time she was gone and just strolled back in like she went on a long weekend trip."

Now your brain is swirling with about a hundred thoughts and about fifty emotions. Yang must be able to tell you're beginning to struggle because she jumps back in.

"I just didn't want her to do that to you. You don't deserve that shit. And I know you got some of those feeling things when it comes to Weiss. Just don't want you to keep the expectations too high."

"Well thanks for giving me the heads up on it." She nods. "I'm sure it's not going to be fun for me when she's gone. But at least I'll still have people like you here with me. I'm sure I'll be just fine."

The rest of the night, you help Yang go over some forms for her business and finish your tea. Sure, it's going to suck without Weiss, but at least you have a good group of people here with you every day. You tell yourself that you're going to be okay. For a second, you almost believe it when you say it.


	17. More Dinner, More Questions

Chapter Seventeen.

Time. It's a funny thing. It seems endless when you aren't concerned with it. But when you wish you had more of it, there seems to be none. That is the kind of stuff rolling repeatedly through your mind every time you are with her. Even right now, as you sit across from her in the corner table at the Dessert Workshop, you and Weiss' "place." You go there at least once a week for dinner. And it's probably been at least a year since that tradition started. And now you find yourself wishing that you had more time.

But why? Why do you feel like you want, need more time with her? Why her? Why Weiss? And why now? You've known Weiss for almost two years at this point.

"Blake?! Are you okay? You're looking at me but I feel like everything but your actual body is somewhere else." You shake yourself from your thoughts to find a displeased Weiss leaning back in her chair, arms crossed.

"Oh, I'm sorry. My mind just drifted off somewhere else. I'm so sorry." How could you be so dumb to waste the little amount of time you have with her before she goes off to Atlas?

"If I'm that boring, I can leave you know." She says it to you with a sly grin on her face. You would never ask her to leave, and she knows it.

Gods help you. What is wrong with you. She's right in front of you. Act like it matters. The only thing you seem to be able to think about it how this time next week she will be in Atlas. And you will still be here. Without her.

Spinning the noodles from your pasta around your fork you bring your brain back into the conversation.

"Did you see that one new hire?" You try to start talking so that you can stay out of your thoughts and just look at Weiss.

"You mean smell him?" A look of disgust creeps across her face and she wrinkles her nose.

"That too. But I was referring to the fact that he looks like he gets paid to chew rocks, not sell scrolls." You put the spun pasta in your mouth and smile. Weiss is laughing so hard that she maybe had snorted.

"Yeah." She finally starts calming down after a few seconds of holding her stomach from laughing. "His teeth are what I would call less than desirable. But you-" She points her empty fork in your direction, "you are too mean."

"I am not mean. I am honest." And not wrong.

"I hope you didn't talk shit about me before we were friends."

"Oh, I didn't have to. Everyone already knew that you were a stuck up snob." Some form of wedged heeled shoe stomps down on top of your sneaker under the table and you yelp out in pain. "What?"

Sticking her nose up in the air she breaks eye contact. "I am not snobby. Nor am I stuck up."

"Really? So that thing where you stick your nose in the air and look away isn't stuck up or snobby? My mistake. I apologize." Rolling your eyes you turn your attention down to find a piece of asparagus somewhere in your pasta.

"Well, maybe it is a little bit." You look up to see her looking right at you. Her admitting to a mild defeat makes you smile. It's not an easy thing to get Weiss Schnee to admit when she's wrong. Your smile falls into a small bit of laughter, making Weiss even more self conscious.

"Why are you laughing?" Your laughter must be contagious because Weiss starts giggling across from you. As she keeps laughing it hits you somewhere in your chest where it hadn't ever before. Like it's the best thing your ears will ever hear.

You've spent nearly every day with her the last week and a half. And it feels selfish sometimes. But at the same time it doesn't at all. Or maybe you just don't care anymore how selfish it may or may not be.

You order a tiramisu and Weiss gets a piece of cheesecake and another margarita for dessert. And when the waiter brings the dessert he also drops the check as well. Cat-like reflexes let you get to it first. Weiss pretends to be mad that you paid for her food. But she paid last week, so it's only fair.

The walk back to the car is an adventure. Weiss tends to get a little more touchy feely when she hangs out with her buddy, tequila. Holding onto your arm, mostly for balance you're sure, you help her make your way back to the car. You only had one drink so you have no issues leading the way, or driving you both home.

You open the passenger side door for her and she nearly falls while trying to get into the car. She grabs onto the front of your shirt for balance, pulling you forward with her as she sits down into the seat, legs still hanging outside the car.

"You have pretty eyes." She says this to you as she's gripping as tightly as her drunken hands will let her on the upper sleeve of your shirt. Your faces are a few inches apart and you can smell all those margaritas she drank.

"You have very pretty everything." It falls from your mouth before you can stop it. And you hear her draw in a quick breath. Almost inaudible.

You swing her legs into the car and pull the seat belt across her chest and fasten it before closing the door. Shaking your head to yourself as you walk around the back of the car to reach your driver's side door, you can't believe yourself. What are you even thinking, Blake? Are you crazy? Or just dumb? You hop into your seat and start the drive to Weiss' apartment so you can drop her off.

"Can I have your scroll?" You look over hesitantly. "I want to put on some music."

"So you can serenade me with your lovely voice, or just hum to it until you pass out with your drunken face smeared on my window?" You hand the scroll to her anyways, without question.

"Rude. And maybe a little bit of both. The possibilities are endless."

They weren't really endless. It turns out, drunk Weiss likes to loudly sing to the soundtracks of children's movies. When you say sing, you mean borderline scream. The ride is thrilling, or maybe more like shrilling. But you manage to make it there safely. All four of your eardrums still in tact.

"Do you need my help getting up the steps, or are you good?" You ask sincerely. Last thing you need is Weiss gracefully plummeting her drunk ass down the stairs.

"No, thank you very much. I've got this." She gains her balance as she stands up to get out of her seat and turns away from you to walk up the stairs and into her apartment.

She stops before placing her first foot on the steps, making you think she may have overestimated her abilities to walk and you place your hand on the door handle in case you need to make a quick assist. But to your surprise she places both feet back down and turns to you.

"Why do you always wait for me?"

"Well, it's important for me to make sure you make it home safe." You motion to her door at the top of the stairs. "All the way home."

"I don't mean just right now. You always wait for me, where ever we are."

You aren't really sure what the right way to answer this question is. You take a few seconds to just look at her. Like you're going to find the answer somewhere in her face.

"There will always be some things worth waiting for, no matter what."

She seems satisfied with that answer, giving a short but pensive look before a curt nod before she finally ascends the stairs and goes into her apartment. Hearing the lock click shut with your Faunus ears, you begin the short journey to your own home.

You let your mind wander off again the entire drive home, just like it had during dinner. Why Weiss? Why now? Just before she leaves.


	18. How Long is Goodbye?

Chapter Eighteen.

Today is your last day. She leaves tomorrow. So why the hell do you have to spend most of it helping the elderly and the ungrateful learn how to responsibly use the technology they willingly purchased in ignorance? That's the nicest thing going through your head right now as you attempt to help this lady with her scroll.

"Are you going to help me, or are you just going to stare off into the distance? I don't have the time to come back another day for this." Your Faunus ears twitch and one begins to flatten in annoyance.

"Lucky you, because I don't want to have to teach this to you more than the seven times I've already had to." The lady looks at you, with her hand to her chest like she's clutching her invisible pearls. Be offended. Who cares.

You would rather spend the day with Weiss doing whatever it is she wanted to do all day, than be here. At work, watching her sell scrolls all damn day from across the store while you pretend to be interested in helping people fix their problems and broken scrolls.

"Someone is kinda moody today, eh?" You turn to look at the face that matches the antagonizing voice, only to be swatted across your face by a wall of blonde hair.

"I am not moody, Yang. But thank you for the concern." She clearly doesn't believe a word you just said. So she follows your line of sight and see where it stops, on Weiss.

"Ah, okay. I get it now." She gives you one of those strong Yang pats on the shoulder. "Don't let it get you down, Blakey. We are going to dinner after work and we are all going to have fun. It's going to be awesome." She throw her fist in the air. Typical Yang. Always looking for the good time.

—

Yang wasn't wrong. The energy is always higher whenever Yang is around. Weiss wanted to go to the Mistrali cafe at the opposite end of the outdoor mall where the Beacon Scroll store is.

You all decided that in celebration, or really lack thereof, it was a good idea to start with dessert. Yang got strawberry cake, you got tiramisu and Weiss wanted mango cheesecake but they didn't serve mango so she opted for lemon instead. And you were sure you were going to hear about it all evening.

"I just can't believe that they don't have mango here."

"It's really not that big a deal Weiss. It's just cheesecake." Yang shouldn't have said that.

"Mangoes are always a big deal. They are the superior fruit." There she goes, sticking her nose up in protest.

"I'm sure you will able to find plenty of them in Atlas. Perfect weather for growing mangoes." You don't even lift your eyes from your own dessert, knowing she will be seething at your comment.

"It's freezing in Atlas you dolt, they don't grow anything the-" You finally look up to see the look on her face and when she catches your eye she redirects herself. "You were joking, weren't you?"

You roll your eyes and put your fork down. "No, no. I was being totally serious. The frozen, lifted tundra is the perfect climate for growing tropical fruits."

"Well, we can't all be from the jungle. Can we?"

"No, no we cannot. And Menagerie hasn't been an actual jungle for over one hundred years, ma'am."

"Are you guys done with this flirtatiously not flirting thing that you're doing? Cuz the waiter is back and he wants to take our order." You don't know about Weiss but for a second, you forgot Yang was even there.

You watch as Weiss' face becomes almost as red as the napkins on the table. And you can't say for sure because you can't see your own face, but you're pretty sure you are blushing just as badly.

The rest of the meal continues on, all three of you staying involved in the conversation. And purposely avoiding talking about what was happening the next day.

—

But all good things come to an end. After dinner the three of you begin the walk back across the shopping mall to your respective cars.

Yang is the first stop. And of course, Yang being Yang, she gives Weiss a death grip hug and gets in her car and heads off to where ever she has to go. Yang never says goodbye, just see you later.

Weiss' car is next. She opens the door and climbs in without saying a word. The silence isn't awkward but it still feels heavy with words that neither of you is going to say. Your Faunus ears droop slightly when you hear the sound of her turning the key in the ignition. This is as far as you go today. You pull your gaze from the ground and look up, meeting Weiss' expectant eyes.

"Well, try not to miss me too much." It feels empty, like you can't even manage sincere effort into your sarcasm. She still jokingly rolls her eyes at you.

"I'm sure I'll be able to manage."

"Message me when you make it to Atlas, just so I know you made it there safe." You wait a beat before adding one last word. "Please."

She clears her throat and breaks eye contact, choosing to look at the steering wheel instead.

"No promises."

And with that, Weiss drives off. Leaving you and your sad, flattened Faunus ears alone to walk the remaining steps to your own car.


	19. 94 Days

Chapter Nineteen.

"You know Miss Belladonna, if you wander around looking like someone shot your puppy for one more day I'm going to have to suggest you get some help outside of this building."

The seriousness in Ozpin's voice is laced with the slight tone of sarcastic humor that he knows you can appreciate. But it's still enough to garner an eye roll from you. Your work performance hadn't suffered in the past two weeks. So you don't really understand why it matters if you seem a little less than happy. Honestly, your life outside of this Scroll building is no one else's business, as far as you were concerned.

But you know Ozpin's heart is in the right place. You hadn't been yourself lately. And really, you don't know why you've allowed yourself to be so… disappointed? Depressed? Or just plain sad? You aren't sure what the exact word is.

Weiss has never been a great or quick responder when it came to messages. It had taken her four days to even message you and tell you that she made it to Atlas safely. And naturally, you had assumed that the airship had crashed by the second day. You were able to breathe a sigh of relief when the message finally did come through though.

Last week Sun had sarcastically suggested the day after Weiss left, and never confirmed her Atlas arrival, that you should write her a letter. The snail mail way. That Weiss would probably respond to it faster than a scroll message.

So later that second night, which was usually the night you and Weiss went to Dessert Workshop, you decided to do just that. You wrote Weiss a letter. And you had every night since she'd been gone.

Tonight you were finishing letter 34, putting it in the box where you kept them all after they were written. You never sent them anywhere, because you really had no where to send them. Not like you really even knew where in Atlas Weiss even was.

Speaking of the white haired semi-bane of your existence, she usually messaged you about once or twice a week, if you were lucky. Just standard check in type messages. Talking about how cold it was in Atlas, how her grandfather was doing, and how much she wished she was at home in Vale. Everything had gone well with his surgery and he had been recovering well at home, so you didn't really understand why she was still in Atlas. But you know it's not your place to involve yourself in Schnee family affairs.

In Weiss' absence, you've started regressing deeply into your introverted ways. Recessing back into yourself. The schedule of life became increasingly monotonous. Wake up, get ready, go to work, go home, go to sleep. Repeat. You haven't done anything with your friends or made plans for anything at all in well over a month. Time seems like it doesn't have meaning anymore.

Yang was starting to worry about you. Pyrrha too. The Yang check ins, which used to be weekly or sometimes even bi weekly, were now a daily occurrence. You had even been forced into going for a "spa day" with Pyrrha and Yang. You're still pretty sure that Ozpin had a hand in the coercion process on that one. It had been to get your mind out of "that rut it is so tightly crammed into." All you know is that after you had been mani-pedied to death and lost 75 lien on the whole ordeal, your arms and legs had been exfoliated into oblivion.

It was just hard for you to be without Weiss. It was just as hard to explain or understand. Even though she was never really "with" you in any way. It felt like one of your arms had disappeared and someone threw you in the ocean and told you to swim without it.

So you just kept writing letters. Every day before you would go to sleep you would sit on your bed and write about everything that happened that day. The same stuff you would've talked with her about if she were still there. Stupid things that happened at work, or if you managed to find a new recipe, or really just anything. Slowly that first letter turned into the 30th, which turned into the 60th. Detailed from start to finish so that it would be like Weiss never left if she were to read them.

But now you really had no intention of giving the letters to Weiss. She had been gone so long. And mostly because you were beginning to doubt whether or not Weiss was ever coming home, you mean coming back to Vale.

Then one day, actually it's day 87, you are sitting on your bed doing some research into potentially taking a vacation. Every one keeps telling you that you need a vacation. A vacation from what? Well, you guess if you're thinking like that, then maybe it's probably true. Suddenly, the scroll sitting on the sheet next to you goes off. Weiss sent you a message.

_Hey, sorry I know I'm horrible at answering my messages. _ _Yeah, that would be an understatement. _ _Thanks you dolt. I just wanted to tell you that I'm finally coming home! I leave Atlas in a week!_

It may be just because you feel like your heart stopped beating. But your chest starts to hurt and you feel a knot in the middle your throat.

—

It's a week later and you are waiting in the baggage claim of the airship station. Waiting. And potentially feeling like you might be dying from anticipation.

It's been 94 days when you look up against the sun and you see silver white hair coming towards you. It's perfect the way that the sun reflects off of it, making it look yellowy and orange. When your golden eyes meet with deep blue ones, you can't help but smile.

"Hey-" She cuts you off by wrapping her arms around your neck and hugging you so hard that there's barely any air left in your lungs. Usually you aren't one to be hugged, but considering the circumstances, you allow it.

"I missed you, you dolt." She speaks into the hair on your shoulder. And you smile for the first time in what feels like weeks.

Hearing her voice in all four of your ears is the best thing you've heard in over three months. After she lets you go, you find her luggage on the conveyor and help her carry it to the car.

It's been 94 days and Weiss is home. And suddenly, you feel like you are too.


	20. Atlas, WTF

Chapter Twenty.

Maybe you're delusional. Maybe you're just insane. Just plain crazy. That has to be it. Or maybe you aren't, and Weiss has really just started to become someone else since she has come back from Atlas. And then there's the possibility that she was always this way, you were just too dumb to notice.

When she first returned it was the same as before she left. You fell back into the groove and same habits you'd had before. Going to dinner. Meeting up for random shopping adventures. Or just sitting in the car for hours after you'd both finished your shifts for the day, just talking or singing along to whatever music Weiss found appropriate for the moment.

But then it was like something changed. Almost like the wind had just decided to blow from a different direction or something. She would treat you the same when it was just the two of you, which was frequently becoming more and more infrequent. But places like at work she would walk past you and not even acknowledge that you took up the space near her.

Gradually it became more noticeable. She would address your friends regularly, but she took almost every possibly opportunity to ignore you in a public setting. Then she would walk up to you as you walked to your car and make conversation like nothing was wrong.

What if it was just you? You tried giving Weiss the benefit of the doubt. Maybe you were looking too much into it. Maybe Weiss had always been that way, you just had your head too far up in the clouds to notice. But it got to a point where other people started to notice it too.

Sun had a few people from work over to the apartment for game night. Ruby and Nora always come to game night. Which is cool, they are awesome. They were cool until they decided to pull you aside when they find you alone in the kitchen.

"Hey Blake, is um.. is everything okay? Because you seem kind of out of it?" Dear sweet, innocent Ruby. Always looking out for people.

"No Rubes, I'm fi-"

"And when she says is everything okay, she means everything between you and Weiss." Dear never sweet and never innocent Nora. Always straight to the point. "Because you haven't been your usual self like you used to be when she was around. And we definitely don't mean how you were when she was gone cuz geez-"

You steal yourself and breathe in deep before answering. "Thanks for worrying about it, but I'm perfectly fine guys."

"And by perfectly fine you mean…?" Ruby squints one eye in question.

"Okay fine, I thought everything was fine when she came back but some things have been weird. Like how she chooses to ignore me whenever anyone else is around."

"Yeah we've noticed-"

"And how she only talks to me like I'm an actual person and not just some random coworker when we are alone."

"The other night at dinner she literally acted as though you weren't even there. And she was sitting right next to you."

"Exactly." Okay, so maybe you aren't as crazy as you thought. "I really dunno what's up with her. Maybe I should just talk to Weiss about it."

"Yeah, sooner rather than later. Or else I'll break your legs." Patting you on the shoulder and leaving you wide eyed in your own kitchen, Nora excuses herself and Ruby follows quietly behind her back to the living room to play games with Sun and everyone else.

—

You had spent the next few days thinking about how you were going to just ask Weiss to talk to you about… not talking to you. The thought of confronting Weiss about her recent behavior made you nervous for some reason. It made you start to doubt what Ruby and Nora had said to you. You wanted to ask Sun for his opinion. But he had always been very clear when it came to his opinion of Weiss. Yeah, she was nice to have around occasionally as a friend, but she wasn't someone that he would ever go out of his way for. So as usual, whenever you needed the best second opinion and when you only had one option left, you go to Yang.

_Hey Yang, can I ask you something? Whenever you have time. I know you're busy with your new business and all. _

_What's up Blakey?_

_If Weiss wasn't talking to you unless it was just the two of you, and ignoring you when you guys were in public. What would you do?_

_Other than maybe lightly slap her? Prolly just talk to her. Which is what I recommend you do. Pyrrha told me that it's been awkward at work lately. _

_Wow. It's almost like there's no such thing as privacy these days. _

_Says the one that text someone else about their own problems with someone else I know. You guys need to work on a more effective line of communication. _

_Point taken, business lady. Thanks for the help. _ _Oh you know, any time. _

Finally feeling sure about your decision, you reopen your scroll to send Weiss a message.

And because it seems like the world is out to get you unknowingly, while still in your hands, that chilling scroll tone goes off. You look down to check the notification you just got, a message from Weiss. Perfect, you think to yourself as you roll your eyes.

_Are you busy? We need to talk. I'm on my way over. _

Gods, can you ever catch a break?

_—_

When she said that you needed to talk, what Weiss really meant was that she wanted to talk while you just sat there and listened. That was all that had happened since she walked through the doorway of your apartment. Sun immediately retreated, claiming he had plans with Ruby. So far all you had been able to do was nod along to confirm to Weiss that you were listening as she spoke.

"I'm really glad to be back from Atlas. And I really enjoy all the time that we are spending together, but things are going to have to change."

"Okay well I-"

"Pretty soon Winter and possibly my mother will be coming from Atlas to stay with me. So I need to focus my attention on that and that means that we aren't going to be able to spend as much time together as we usually do."

"I understand." By the time you made it this far into the conversation, you were tired of trying to cut your way in or be able to say anything at all.

"Ok. Good. Well I have to go cuz I told that new girl Cinder I would give her I ride home from work today because her car is in the shop. So I need to leave. Or else I'll be late."

"Oh, okay." She had already grabbed her bag and made her way back to the front door, opening it. "Well um, drive safe."

"No promises." And with that, she was gone as quickly as she had arrived.

You had said maybe ten words the entire time she was here. She rolled over you. You didn't even get the chance to say anything, or ask why she had been treating you like trash lately.

For the first time ever, you admit to yourself that Weiss is being selfish. When you think back to how Sun had reminded you of this many times, and how you chose not to believe it, even for a second. That hurt you almost as badly as being ignored.


	21. Winter Isn't Coming, She's Already Here

Chapter Twenty One.

It's been four months. Four whole long months since Weiss has come back from Atlas.

You decided after she basically refused to let you speak and made it clear that she wanted some time apart, that that was exactly what she could have. Giving her exactly what she asked for, never really engaging with Weiss unless prompted or required for business or professional purposes. And you aren't going to lie, you aren't a fan. And frankly, it hurts your feelings more than it should. But you'd rather have Weiss around in the tiniest capacity than not at all. So you deal with it.

You had heard, basically just from being involved in conversations with your friends, that Weiss was moving to a larger apartment this week to accommodate Winter's arrival. She had hired a moving company to transport all her personal things and when you messaged offering help if needed, she had adamantly refused.

That is, until she needed help building the furniture she had bought for Winter's room. It had arrived just in time. And just in pieces. And here she was, sitting in the repair room with you while you finished cleaning the room for the night.

"I'm begging you, please. I will buy you a bottle of that nasty death drink you think is alcohol. I just need help building the bed and a dresser."

"It's not a death drink, it's whiskey. And I'm sure you have the ability to read the assembly instructions just as well as I do, Weiss." You sweep the glass particles off the repair bench and into the trash can.

It's just the two of you in the repair room. Everyone else is either out front helping the remaining customers or has already gone home for the evening.

You keep your eyes on your work. Because you know that as soon as you look up and see blue, it's over for you. You hear her get up from the chair where Pyrrha or Neptune would usually be sitting at and walk towards you. There is a light sound when she leans her hip against the edge of the bench you are still meticulously cleaning. You see her press her fingers to the bridge of her nose. And you hear her force a breath out in frustration.

"Are you mad at me or something? I mean, you won't even look at me." You can hear the hurt in her voice. It makes you scoff lightly. She reaches out and tries to pinch your arm and you swat lazily in her direction.

Tired. You are tired of this. The audacity she has to ask if you're angry with her. Even though you aren't exactly angry. It's not the proper emotion. But you know you're ready for this back and forth to end.

"I'm not mad." Turning to face her for the first time since she entered the room, something catches you off guard. You get stuck looking, just like you'd feared. You miss looking at her this way. Your eyes are heavy and tired from work. But it still feels better than anything else had all day. You miss this. When it's just the two of you and there's nothing to distract or stop you from looking. Your eyes grace over the ever so light shadow of a scar under her left eye. It's one of those things, part of the imperfections you felt made her perfect. Now isn't the time to get caught up in things you don't have. Huffing out the breath you've been holding, you continue.

"When do you need this stuff built by?"

"Winter gets here in like two days so kind of sooner rather than later?" She gives you a pathetic smile that's meant to be a bargaining tool and little else.

"I'm not working tomorrow. So I can either come by after work tonight, or I can help you some time tomorrow." She opens her mouth to speak, and you raise a hand and cut her off. "And I don't need you to buy me anything in order for me to help you. You're my friend and I'm supposed to help you. As part of you, being friends. Just message me and let me know what time works for you, ice princess."

And with that, you brush past her and let the door close behind you, with Weiss left alone in the repair room.

—

The next afternoon, you find yourself on the floor of an empty room surrounded by various wooden beams and what looks to be a thousand screws and bolts of various shapes and sizes. Oh, and how could you forget, the one lonesome DIY wrench that came inside the box that looks like it's one step above toothpick on the sturdiness scale.

Weiss is sitting crossed legged between two beams at the far end of the room, glass of wine in one hand with her scroll on her knee, listening to a podcast.

"You are the literal definition of absolutely no help." There's a rightful note of agitation in your voice as you fasten the final bolt, securing the frame structure of the bed. All that's left are the head and footboards. You are slightly flushed from having to move around all the pieces throughout the building process. Wiping the back of your hand across your forehead to get rid of any lingering sweat.

"And this is why I told you I would gladly buy you alcohol or food in exchange for helping me. Seeing as how I'm useless and refuse to assist. It's for your own safety, really."

You finally get the last piece seated for the braces across the middle of the bed and lay the uncovered mattress on top. Gracelessly, you flop down next to your completed work, on the floor. Closing your eyes for a few moments, you hear Weiss pick herself up off the floor and leave the room. Socks scuffing on the carpet along the way. But you keep your eyes closed.

"Here." You peek open one eye when you feel something cold brush against one of your Faunus ears. You must've had a weird look on your face or something because you see Weiss recess slightly at your reaction.

"Did I hurt you?" She sits down next to you and raises a hand towards your face, causing you to recoil backwards. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have bumped your ear. I wasn't thinking. Are you okay?"

Swatting away at her hand, you shake your head. " Weiss, chill out. It's fine. It was just really cold is all. It'd be like if I came up and stuck the bottle to the back of your neck or something. They're just ears." You see the apprehension growing on her face. "And before you say it, no you did not offend me in any way by touching and, or discussing my ears."

She closes her mouth slowly, like she was going to say something but thankfully decided against it. She tucks her legs underneath herself as she gets comfortable. Swirling the red wine in her glass a few times before she takes another sip, then pointing it towards you.

"Would you like a sip?" You shake your head.

"You know that I don't like to drink wine. It always gives me a headache."

She puffs out a tiny sign of disappointment, as though she no longer knows how to fill the silence between you. Or more importantly, like she can no longer find comfort in it.

"Thanks though. The water is like, perfect." That seemed to put her at ease. "Are you excited for your sister to be coming to live with you? You never really talk about them much, your family."

"I guess I am. But at the same time I'm not. Winter is very unpredictable. She could stay with me for a year, or she could be gone in a few weeks. Not exactly the kind of reliability you look for in family members or roommates."

"Well at least you have a sister. It's just me and my parents. They're great and all, but they're a lot different from me. And I never really had anyone kind of on my level until I met Sun. It's not easy growing up with two people that are already grown up."

"You didn't have any friends growing up? I find that hard to believe. I mean, you are a total ass to everyone. But for some reason, maybe just because it's you, it's kind of charming." Surprised wipes across your face.

"Did you, Weiss Schnee, actually give me a compliment? Even though it was in a most twisted way. I'm flattered." You roll your eyes for dramatic and sarcastic effect.

"Yes, I might have. Don't get used to it."

Looking down at your watch you realize that you've stayed way longer than you expected. You stand up, offering your free hand to help pull Weiss up with you.

"Yeah we moved around Menagerie a lot when I was little because of my dad's job. He's kind of an important guy when it comes to maintaining what you refer to as 'the jungle' over there. But it was never really my realm of interest, botany. So that's the main reason I ended up leaving the island. Too much family pressure."

"Why am I just finding this out now? We've known each other for almost three years and you've never really talked about your family."

"It's not that I won't talk about them. I just like to listen as much as you like to talk." She lightly pushes your shoulder. "That, and you never asked. And I've never brought up that you come from a rather financially stable background either, Miss Schnee Company Heiress. Although, I think that term is rather outdated and inaccurate in today's economic and social climate."

"Yes, okay I get it. We don't have to talk about it anymore. Now I'm starting to think I might prefer it when I talk and you listen more too."

"Ha, ha."

You walk down the hallway towards the front door and grab your bag and keys. While Weiss is trying to pull the scroll that's blaring in her pocket out so she can check her messages, you slip your jacket on and get ready to go.

"Oh Gods, Winter's flight is getting here hours earlier than she told me. I've got to get ready to go get her. Thanks again-" She latches onto your shoulder and pulls you into an unexpected hug. "for helping me with all of this." Wait, did she just sniff your hair? "Like always, pretending to be the devil while acting like a saint."

You give a small, mocking laugh mostly to avoid asking about the whole sniffing your hair thing that just happened.

"Well, you have fun with Winter. And next time, you can just hire someone to build the furniture for you."

"Why would I ever do that when I have someone as amazingly efficient as you?"

You flatten your ears to make her think you're annoyed before flitting one back to a standing position. Without another word, you make your way down the stairs and back to your car. You drive the entire way home, only a few minutes, wondering why you feel how you feel and act how you do.


	22. Without Yin, You Need a Yang

Chapter Twenty Two.

You know, you don't consider yourself to be an angry or really ever mad person. Or even overly emotional at all. But right now, you are pissed the hell off. Sitting in your car yelling and screaming at no one. Mostly, because you are by yourself, thank Gods. But there was a lot leading up to this moment, so let's go back and see if you can figure out what the shit happened.

—

Someone was having a going away party at work, so everyone was meeting up at this shitty dive bar with cheap alcohol down the street from work. Naturally, almost the entire store went.

Ruby, Nora, Sun, Ren and Pyrrha had already bailed out, heading home after about an hour. Not wanting to get too crazy when they had work the next day. How responsible. How smart.

But not you. Here you are. Making sure Weiss, who is noticeably drunk off her ass, makes it home safely. Weiss had been hanging out with Cinder a lot more, and a lot more often than you would've liked. It wasn't that you cared if Weiss had friends. That was perfectly fine and encouraged. But what bothers you is Cinder. There has always been something about Cinder that just put a bad taste in your mouth.

Cinder was always the girl that always tried to get involved in everyone's business. Always looking for the center of any drama to be found. Always wanting to be everyone's friend and know everyone's secrets.

But she was also the girl that couldn't keep a single damn secret, whether it was her own or someone else's. Like when she told everyone in the break room, including the managers, that she had gotten a sexually transmitted infection from sleeping with a married man she met on a dating app. Classy.

The worst thing about Cinder was that she was as manipulative as she was dumb. She was always telling people what they wanted to hear. And Weiss loves that. Being told what she wants to hear. Never being wrong.

Really, Cinder was just someone you wanted nothing to do with, and to keep at arms length. Cordial for co working purposes, but nothing else. Strictly business.

And here was Cinder now, following Weiss around like the shadow she definitely didn't need. They chatted like they'd been friends forever. Basically, it makes you sick to your stomach. Even Yang had told Weiss to stay away from Cinder. And if Yang thinks you're crazy, you're fucking crazy.

You had maintained your distance, but Weiss was getting increasingly sloppy with each tequila shot. Which makes you worry. You had already told Weiss about four shots ago that you would drive her home. And that she wouldn't be driving. Weiss had responded with a mumbled assurance that she wouldn't drive and it would be fine. So when Weiss gets up from the table and all but falls to the ground, stumbling her way to the bathroom, you decide that it's time to go. You grab Weiss' forgotten scroll off the bar and set off for the bathroom. When you open the door, you find Weiss sitting on the sink talking and laughing with Cinder. Dear Gods, here we go with this trash, you think to yourself.

"Weiss, the sink is disgusting, please don't sit up there."

"It's okay Blake, I wiped it with this paper towel first." She shoves her arm out, putting the dirty matted paper product in your face.

With sobriety and dexterity on your side, you take the towel from her hand and throw it into the garbage as Weiss continues to sway, perched on the countertop. Cinder, who had nothing to drink that night you noticed, stays leaning against the wall laughing at Weiss' antics. And Weiss is only laughing because she's plastered.

"I think she's going to be just fine, Blake. Go and enjoy yourself."

Something sparks like a match in your chest. It's an unfamiliar sensation, but you notice it grows whenever you look at Cinder. But it's quickly and literally pushed aside by Weiss.

"I'm gonna throw up." She grabs onto your arm and you lead her into the stall, where she almost collapses in front of the toilet to get rid of all the alcohol that she's ingested this evening. You make sure her signature side ponytail is held completely out of the way as the acidic smell begins to assault your nose.

After a few minutes of Weiss' adventure in the bathroom stall, she begins to pull herself up off the floor and pulls on your shoulder for support, steading herself. Knowing Weiss well enough and having been through your fair share of Weiss drinking adventures with tequila, you know it's safe to leave Weiss alone to get herself together for a few moments. So you grab the handle of the bathroom door and hold it open, not moving until Cinder had taken the hint and walked out in front of you.

As soon as the door shuts behind you, Cinder turns around and gets way too close to you for comfort.

"Listen Blake, I don't know how to say this, but you need to go." The condescending tone in Cinder's voice grates on every fiber of your being. The spark in your chest is coming back, and getting worse.

"I think that if Weiss didn't want me around she would say something to me."

"She said that she doesn't want you to take her home. That she asked you for space and this isn't space, Blake."

"Quite frankly, this isn't really any of your business and I don't think my relationship with Weiss is any of your concern, Cinder." The spark is a fully lit fire at this point. Anger, that's what it is. You're mad.

"Okay. Blake, I was trying not to hurt your feelings. But Weiss doesn't want you. So you need to save yourself the heart break and make a good decision for yourself and just go. Find someone that will make you happy. Because it's not ever going to be Weiss." The knot in your throat is growing with every second. "She told me she doesn't want you to take her home. I will message you when I get her home tonight. But it's best if you just go."

The tiny spark that became a flame was now a solid bonfire. Your fists are gripped so tight that your knuckles are whiter than Weiss' hair. Your ears are so flat and pointed back that unless you knew you were a Faunus, you wouldn't be able to tell. The muscles in your jaw flex.

Hit her. Hit her so hard she shits out her own teeth. Those were your first thoughts. But those thoughts weren't Blake. They weren't you. You knew you weren't going to assault a co worker in a public place. So you do the only thing you can think to do. You run.

Snow white knuckles are viciously gripped the steering wheel in your car. You tried to call Sun, but he didn't answer. You call Yang, no answer. So here you are, yelling and screaming in your car to no one. You have to leave this place. You're just so angry. So you slam your palm against the steering wheel until it goes numb. You throw the car in drive and set out for the highway. It's a little after midnight. You have time. For what? You don't know.

—

About ten minutes into your drive your scroll begins to ring, Yang. You take the call over the sound system in your car and continue your pursuit of nothing down the highway.

"Hey Blakey, what's up? It's kinda late for a call from you."

"Yang!"

"Oh boy."

"I am furious! I don't think I have ever been this damn mad in my entire life. I feel like a dragon with flames of rage coming out of my mouth. I am SO pissed off."

"Woah, woah. Calm down. Where are you? And what the hell is going on? Cuz Blake doesn't get mad."

"I KNOW! Which is just another thing that is making me mad!"

You retell the events of the night to Yang as you drive aimlessly down the highways across Vale. Yang adding her commentary in along the way. But by the end of it, she calms you down.

"Don't forget, Cinder is basically trash. If I can't find something to like about you, there is nothing to be liked about you."

"This is true."

"But really, I think you and Weiss just need to hash this out. No more dancing around it. Throw it out in the open, just the two of you and fight it out until it's done. Because no one else can fix anything between the two of you… but the two of you."

You promise Yang that you are going to call Weiss and tell her you need to talk. At this point it's almost 4am and your are about 50 miles from home and need to get there sooner rather than later. You thank Yang for always being there for you, even in the dead of night, to offer her epic wisdom. You had gotten a buzz on your scroll and noted that it was from Cinder, telling you Weiss was home as promised.

"Well Blake, you know what they say."

"And what is that?"

"You can't have Yin without a Yang."

"I'm so done with you. Goodnight, Yang."

"Night Blake."


	23. Everything Can Make You Feel Like

Chapter Twenty Three.

_We need to talk._

Always the message that you enjoy waking up to, already pissed off.

_That would be a good idea. _

You message her back after a few minutes.

The rest of the morning you mentally hype yourself up and prepare for the total emotional throw down you're sure to have with Weiss. Pulling on your favorite dark green zip up hoodie, you walk out of your apartment. Ready to face whatever destiny has planned.

As you pull into the parking space in front of Weiss' apartment, you breathe in deeper than your lungs could hold and force all the air right back out as you raise your fist to knock on the door.

"It's open!" You hear Weiss yell from somewhere far behind the door. Hesitantly, you grab the door knob and leverage your weight against it and walk into the apartment.

You find Weiss wandering back and forth in the kitchen, like she can't find something or is preparing something and half the ingredients are missing. But you know better than to assume Weiss would be cooking.

"I'm just making something to drink, just um… sit where ever and I'll be there in a second."

You pull up the chair opposite from the kitchen entrance and have a seat so that you can still see Weiss as she finishes with whatever it is that she's doing. You take the time while you wait to look around the apartment. You hadn't been back since the day you helped her build the furniture. Or since Winter had moved in.

"Is Winter here?" Honestly you were curious.

"No, she's at work. She has weird shifts at the hospital. So I hardly ever see her. Which is kind of nice." Your eyes continue to wander. You notice there's no photos. No family pictures or decor other than the required furniture. A couch, a tv and the cabinet that it sits on, there's a bookcase and a desk. The shelves are full but the desk is barren. There are some jackets hanging on the coat rack near the front door and some shoes below it. It strikes you as a place of being, but not living. It has a different feel from the apartment you share with Sun.

"Here." Her voice snaps you out of your observational trace and you turn to meet the voice that broke the silence. A familiar smell is wafting through the air from the ceramic mug that she's holding out to you. Peppermint. You grab it from her, lowering it to the table and resting it gently.

"How did you know I like peppermint tea?"

"I've only known you for like three years, stood next to you while you've ordered that repugnant leaf juice at least a million times from the coffee shop by the store. I do pay attention, occasionally."

"There's a first time for everything, I suppose." You hum as you take your first sip of the tea. Perfect. Just a slight amount of sugar, barely noticeable. She rolls her eyes as she takes a sip of her own drink. By the smell of it, dark roast coffee with cream and sugar.

"Okay, well I know you didn't want to come over just to critique my knowledge of your drink preferences, so spill it. Because to be honest, I don't remember much of what happened last night, and Cinder isn't really saying much happened."

"Of course she isn't." You unintentionally grit your teeth, causing you jaw muscles to flex. Making Weiss lift an eyebrow, somehow intrigued by your reaction. "I don't like her."

You say it as flatly as possible. Trying to leave any twinge of emotion out of your voice. If anything at all, so Weiss doesn't jump to conclusions. But mostly because you don't want to start trying to punch things.

"Oh come on Blake, she's not bad at all." You openly scoff at the thought. "You usually couldn't care less about whether or not someone exists. So why do you care so much about Cinder?"

Weiss begins to fidget in her seat. It's very slight, but you can hear the tiniest movement when the chair grinds against the hardwood floor. Courtesy of your Faunus ears.

"Something about her just… I don't know what it is. But she's not someone I would ever want to be friends with. I get a bad feeling about her." Your ears had begun to flick back and forth uncontrollably. Maybe you should've worn a hat.

"She has had, and is going through a rough time right now and she really just needs some friends. And she's been there for me lately-"

"Like when she was standing there laughing while you were vomiting your guts out last night?" You look at her expectantly.

"Like I was saying, so just try and be nice to her, okay?"

"No promises. None whatsoever." When it grants and outright down and disapproving reaction from Weiss you continue. "Fine, I won't go out of my way to be mean to her, but I also won't go out of my way to be nice either." Hearing the tone of finality in you voice, she knows she's left with no choice but to nod and hum in agreement as she takes another sip of coffee.

"I don't see how you can make fun of me and my delicious leaf juice when you are sitting over there drinking that stank nasty bean juice."

A small laugh escapes from her throat and withers away at your resolve to keep a steady and firm hand with this conversation.

"I was watching this show on Remflix before you got here, we can watch it for a bit if you want? Unless you have other plans for the day?" You catch the small sound of hope in her voice as she asks.

"Unfortunately for me-" rolling your eyes and standing up from the table "I don't have anything else to do the rest of the day but a few things around the apartment so I can watch for a little bit, I suppose."

—

Weiss must know you better than you thought, because she had already moved over towards the couch with her coffee and was getting comfortable under the blanket at her favorite end of the couch. You take your seat at the opposite end as the theme song for some Gods awful medical drama show begins to play.

Before you know it, it's been almost four hours and maybe five episodes of this moderately inaccurate drama. Somewhere between Weiss punching your arm when one of the characters almost killed their patient and when someone else almost dies from getting hit by a bus, she has deserted her spot and is laying across the couch with her pillow smashed against your hip. She is snoring, loudly if you were being honest, and her arms have encircled one of yours like a Venus fly trap.

But she refuses to let go, even in the midst of her nap. After struggling for about five minutes, you manage to yank it free. Only to have her ice cold hands fumble out for it once again. You don't know why, but you stretch your hand back over and she grabs onto it gently, ceasing her flailing.

"Why is this never easy?" You keep your voice low, so as not to wake her. Apparently Weiss is a ridiculously heavy sleeper, like Sun.

After a little while, you yank yourself free of the ice queen's clutches once again. This time you stand up in front of her and scoop her up, blanket and all, carrying her to her room and carefully placing her on the bed. You fix the blankets back around her before you turn to leave.

You find her keys hanging next to the door and pull the needed one from the rest of the chain. Locking the door behind you, you place the key under the mat. You send a quick message to Weiss, letting her know where you left her key, and you make your way back home.

There was a lot of things that you wanted to say today that remained unspoken. Maybe it's because you're afraid to say them out loud. Maybe it's because you aren't really sure of what it is you even want to say. Or maybe it's because when it's just you and Weiss, everything feels okay and you never want it to be any different. Or maybe, it's because if you find out you can't have everything, it will feel like you have nothing.


	24. Drive Until Your Heart Stops

Chapter Twenty Four.

You can't sleep.

You left Weiss' apartment and drove home. You stopped and got another tea on the way. But your brain is just running a million miles an hour. When you got home you thought you would just read a little bit. Maybe calm your mind a little. But it didn't. You clean everything that could possibly be cleaned. You could safely eat off of any surface in your apartment.

During the impromptu cleaning spree, you find the box that is filled with all the letters you wrote to Weiss. Each is sealed inside an envelope with her name scribbled across the front, as well as the date they were written. Never sent anywhere except to this box. And only ever read by you. Something inside you can't bring yourself to put them back in the drawer where they have been hiding for what seems like forever. So you leave the box on top of the shelf under your tv, in your bedroom.

You need to quiet your mind but you just can't think of what could do it. Your heart feels so heavy. But with what or why, you don't know. Or maybe you do, you just don't want to say it out loud where anyone's ears could hear. If you say things, they become real. And you don't know if you're ready for real yet.

So at 5am, you decide maybe a change of scenery is in order. Not wanting to disturb Sun, you send a message to his scroll to let him know what you're doing and that he shouldn't worry, you will be home later that day. You prep some tea for the car ride and leave the apartment behind for the day. A nice long, aimless drive. Some nature might make you feel better, clear your mind.

You drive southwest. Past the city and a few parks. Nothing seems like it's where you need to be. Or what you need. So you keep driving. Humming and singing along to the music you've been shuffling through on the radio. After two and a half hours, you're 150 miles from home and still going. Your mind is still rolling in the space between what you're doing and where you're going, in the moment and with everything else in your life.

Then the idea comes to you like an epiphany. What could help cleanse your mind and lift the mental weight from your brain. What you need to see, to hear, to smell to separate from this place just long enough. The ocean. So with a set destination in mind, you head off towards the coast, you still have almost two hours drive to get there, but it's worth it.

You hear your scroll pinging with messages on the seat next to you. But not today. Today you're unavailable. You need to stay separate from everything in your life that isn't you in this exact moment. Just you and the road. Until it's just you and the ocean.

You have to stop for gas along your journey. The town you stop in is super rural. There are palm trees lining the streets and the sun is shining brightly. Only broken up sporadically by small clouds that quickly pass by. It reminds you a lot of Menagerie, of home. And you realize how much you actually miss home. Maybe it's part of the reason you're spending a majority of your three day weekend from work driving to a beach, alone and spontaneously. Subconsciously you want to go home, maybe.

After about 30 more songs on the radio, your car rolls to a stop in a gravel parking lot. You open the car door and roll up your pant legs to the knee and take off your shoes, leaving them behind in the car. Grabbing your scroll, keys and the towel you keep in the trunk in case of emergency you turn towards the long wooden boardwalk that separates you from your final destination. You shove the keys and your scroll in your pockets and sling the towel over your shoulder.

When you finally step barefoot onto the cool white sand you look forward and see the ocean as you breathe in the salty air. It gives you a small shiver. It feels like relief. Like the weight has shifted, begun to fall from you.

You walk for about 20 minutes and finally find a spot to settle. You don't intend to spend a lot of time, but you are ready just to sit on the towel you brought and take everything in. Alone. You fold the towel in half as best you can with the wind fighting you every step of the way. But eventually, you work it out and take a seat. You cross your legs and rest your hands in your lap. With your eyes closed, you breathe in the deepest that your lungs can hold and imprison the breath in your chest for a few moments before releasing it.

The sight in front of you is all you could've asked for. The crisp white foam floating atop the turquoise waves that lead out into a deep blue ocean that stretches far beyond what you can see. It's almost perfect.

You try so hard to force it from your mind. Don't say it. Please, don't say it. Quit thinking it. Stop thinking that it would be absolutely perfect if Weiss were here. You feel your Faunus ears droop and you begin to wring your hands together absentmindedly. Your scroll is ringing, from its place on the edge of your towel but you leave it alone.

"Just say it, Blake. You can do it. Even if you will only ever say it out loud right here, right now. Say it Blake. Come on." You try to hype yourself up as the tears begin to form in the corners of your eyes. Maybe it's okay to say it here. Just this once. Hundreds of miles away from anything and everyone that knows you.

"Okay. Here we go. I, Blake Belladonna, am in- dear Gods. How many times?" You are interrupted yet again by the nonstop ringing of your scroll. Who ever has called, called at least five times back to back. You give in and gaze over to the screen to see who it is.

Of course. Who else could it be? Always. You answer midway through the seventh call.

"Hello?"

"WHERE ARE YOU? ARE YOU OKAY?! SUN DIDN'T KNOW WHERE YOU WENT AND I HAVE MESSAGED AND CALLED YOU AND YOU NEVER ANSWERED AND YOU ALWAYS ANSWER!"

"Well, hello to you too, Weiss." You lean forward and rest your elbows on the inside of your crossed knees.

"Not funny Belladonna. Now, where are you?"

"I am perfectly fine. I told Sun that I was going for a drive. I messaged him this morning before I even left. And now I'm currently sitting on a beach about five hours southwest of Vale."

"Okay, well I just woke up and you weren't there and you were there when I went to sleep on the couch. And I woke up in my bed and you were gone."

"Did you think I one night standed you?" You laugh quietly at your own joke, but she ignores you and continues talking.

"And so I messaged you and you didn't answer for a few hours so I called Sun, which he didn't seem very enthusiastic about. But he said he didn't know where you were at and, wait. What do you mean you're at the beach?"

"I am sitting on a towel, looking at the ocean. I'm sure if you stop talking for two seconds you would be able to hear the waves in the background. Here, let me turn my scroll and you can listen." Without waiting to hear her rejection, you turn the scroll away from your face and towards the rolling waves in front of you for a few seconds before returning to the call. "See? I'm not dead. Just listening to the ocean."

"You can buy scroll tones for that, you dolt. Why did you feel the need to drive a ridiculously long way away from home just to listen to the ocean?"

"I just really wanted to see it. And I kinda felt like I needed to be completely by myself for a little bit. And I just kept driving until I ended up here." You shrug even though you know she can't see you.

Weiss doesn't say anything for a few seconds. But it's almost like you can hear the thoughts turning circles in her head as she hums through the phone line. When she finally speaks again, her voice has dropped in volume and is much calmer.

"You know, my grandfather used to say that the first person you think about when you look at the ocean is your soulmate. The person that you love most…" Her voice fades off at the end. There it was again. That painful lightning striking in your chest. "But you know, that was probably just him trying to keep us interested in his boring stories by adding the occasional interesting bit in…"

You know Weiss is still talking, but you can't hear it. You just heard your fear and experienced the realization out loud. Before you could even get the chance to say it yourself.

"Are you even listening to what I'm saying, Blake?" You hear the question but the words are stuck in your throat and can't make it out. "Blake!" You shake your head back and forth to try and dislodged you from your thoughts.

"Yeah um, I think the connection might be bad here or something. So I'm just going to go…"

"Wait! At least let me know if you want to go with me."

"Go where?" You really hadn't heard a word of what she had said, did you?

"The Vytal festival is going on and I asked you, like three minutes ago, if you would like to go with me, Nora, Ren and Ruby on Monday night."

You don't know why, but you suddenly feel upset. Like something you haven't felt in a long time. The only thing you know for sure is that you need to get off your scroll soon, before Weiss catches on.

"Oh yeah, sure." Your voice was beginning to crack and the tears were welling up in the corners of your eyes again. "I'll be there. But I really should go. I'll message you when I get home tonight, okay?"

"Fine, okay. Send me a picture of the beach. I wish I was there. So jealous."

"Okay Weiss. I'll message you later. Bye." For the first time ever, you don't even wait for her to say goodbye before ending the call.

Blinking through the tears, you lift up the scroll and open the camera app. You snap a photo of the bone white sand and the cascading waves in the background. You gather your things and throw the towel back over your shoulder as you send the photo you just took to Weiss. You add the caption "wish you were here" before pressing send.

You start the walk back to your car. But you step forward once more into the tide's edge. You shiver as the freezing cold water rushes over the top of your feet. Looking up to the sky, you feel a small tear fall from your eye. Feeling the salty breeze flow through your dark hair, tangling it, you feel like now is as good a time as any. Pulling in a deep breath, just so that you can pour it right back out before you admit it. Why you are the way you are. What it is that pulls at you day and night. Why you don't sleep as well as you should. What lives in your heart that makes it feel so heavy.

"I am in love with Weiss Schnee."

You silently walk back to your car. You listen to music the entire long journey home. But you don't feel quite like singing this time. When you get home, you message Weiss and inform her that you made it home safe. You don't want to talk to anyone right now, you just want to close your eyes and sleep a dreamless sleep.


	25. The Propensity for Excitement

Chapter Twenty Five.

Today is your first day back after a much needed long weekend off of work. Your spontaneous trip to the beach hadn't gone at all as planned. And your post Cinder rage meeting with Weiss hadn't gone as planned either. You said nothing, she said everything. And there were all these feelings swirling around in your mind. Like a metaphorical toilet flushing and going nowhere. Just shit spinning around and around. It was almost nice to have something other than what you might intend to do about your Weiss situation to waste your time with. So you dive into work all day. It throws you off when Ozpin asks to speak to you in the managers office before you begin the final hour of your shift.

"Hello there Miss Belladonna, please have a seat." He gestures towards one of the two empty seats at the opposite end of the work station.

The seat begins to roll back slightly once your weight presses on it. You adjust quickly, firmly planting your shoes on the ground, preventing both you and the chair from rolling further. He takes a second to observe you as you struggle with the chair, giving a short hum as you settle in. Your Faunus ears catch it with ease.

"Did you need to speak with me about something, or were you just interested in watching me almost fall out of the chair in the managers office?"

He doesn't miss the small laugh hiding in your sarcastic remark. Because you know he has no malicious intentions, and you don't think you've done anything to warrant getting in trouble for. Not recently anyway. That, and Ozpin has always been rather partial to you overly sarcastic and monotonous nature.

"Ah, straight to business today I guess. Had a decent weekend, I'm hoping?"

"Yes I got to relax a little bit and I took a nice drive." It was half true.

"Well in the spirit of good news, let us continue this conversation, but in a different direction. I would like you to go to Vacuo. More importantly to Scroll headquarters, and represent our store, as the exemplary technician you are, for a training event." Your eyebrow raises in surprise. "You have immaculate consistency with your repair quality, and somehow the customers seem to like you as well."

You detect the small hint of shade in his voice at the last piece. But you allow him to continue again, without interruption.

"You will spend four days and three nights there. You will be provided a food stipend of 80 lien a day for lunch and dinner. Your breakfast is provided daily by the hotel, which is also provided to you. And you will also be given adequate means of transportation. Should you choose to go, of course." He takes a long sip from his coffee mug and places it back down on the desk in front of him, awaiting your response. You don't even have to think about it.

"Yeah sure, I'll go. Should be an awesome opportunity to see something of Scroll from another perspective and share what we do here with others. When is it?"

"You leave three days from today, and will return on the fourth night. I will have everything arranged and your schedule for the end of this week altered accordingly. Thank you Miss Belladonna, you may return to the floor."

You carefully push yourself away from the desk's edge and stand up, as to not roll away and almost tumble to the ground like before. You place your hand on the doorknob to exit, when your Faunus ears twist around at the sound of Ozpin clearing his throat.

"One more thing, Blake." You turn back around to face him. "You will be accompanied by one of your sales team members. Your counterpart of sales, so to speak. You will share accommodations and travel means with them."

Great. Now you have to share space with one of your weird ass coworkers. You can feel your eagerness for this opportunity dying as quickly as it arrived.

"I'm sure it won't be any trouble for you though. You and Miss Schnee seem to get along quite well enough already."

He must've watched every ounce of color drain from your face, because he gives you a small toast with his coffee mug and a wink to match.

"I spoke with her when she arrived this afternoon. She seems very thrilled to attend as well. Please do keep an eye on your email for details later today. Enjoy the rest of your shift, Miss Belladonna."

—

Part of you feels betrayed by Ozpin for this "opportunity" and part of you feels excited. But mostly, you feel like this is a set up. You push the heavy wooden door that separates the employee only areas from the customer facing section and immediately immerse yourself back into your technical appointments.

After about ten minutes and an extremely boring conversation with an owl Faunus that refusing to used your company's cloud based services because she doesn't trust it, your mind and eyes begin to wander around the store and eventually come to rest on their usual target.

Weiss is about three tables away, talking to a middle aged woman about the latest scroll with her two unruly children in tow. Weiss is animated in her conversation. She always talks with her hands. She's smiling and laughing with the lady as she shows her a feature, handing her the scroll. It's fake. The smile, the laughing. You can hear it through your Faunus ears. You call it her Sales Lady Weiss voice.

She looks over at your table and quickly catches your eye, and you give her your usual "I'm sorry" lopsided grin. She looks back towards the lady, while casually fooling with her own Scroll Watch.

A few seconds later, you get a notification on your watch. From Weiss, of course.

_This lady is driving me insane. I'm so ready to leave. _

You quickly scribble out a response on your watch face.

_Same._

Your attention is forced back to your customer. Who is now ranting about how the cloud just puts all your stuff out there for everyone to see. You carefully tread the rest of your way through the interaction. You aren't looking to start any issues that will keep you there all night. You have plans.

So as soon as you can scurry away from the owl Faunus lady, you go into the break room and grab your bag and keys so that you can go home. Before you can even clock out Weiss comes up to you and slaps you on your upper arm, kinda hard.

"Ouch!" You immediately rub the place where she slapped you even though it didn't really hurt.

"Hey, where are you going? We are going to the Vytal Festival tonight! Did you forget?"

"You mean like forget just like you forgot to tell me about Vacuo or….?" She rolls her eyes at you.

"Whatever. Ozpin said he was going to tell you as soon as you were available." She puts her hands on her hips and lightly taps her foot on the ground. "But still, where exactly are you going? You promised me you would come with me."

"I am, ma'am." You place excessive emphasis on the last word. "But you don't get off work for another two hours and I'm not hanging around here for you. I'm going home. And I'll come back later and we can go. Or I can meet you there, whatever."

"That's nonsense, I'll just come get you."

"As is you, Weiss Schnee the ice queen, will drive out of your way to come get me?" You put a fake look of disbelief on your face, if anything just to piss her off. "To what do I owe the honor?"

"You're going to ride the ferris wheel with me and buy me funnel cake, that is your honor. I'll pick you up at 7:30." And with that she spins on her heels, swinging her ponytail and swiping you across the face with it as she stomps her way back to the sales floor.

Sun, who was standing at his locker a few feet away the entire time, rolls his eyes and shuts the locker loud enough to bother your Faunus ears and make you shudder. You know he did it on purpose.

"Sounds like someone has a date with the ice queen this evening. I won't wait up for you."

"Oh Gods Sun, get real. We are just friends."

"Uh huh, sure. 'Just friends' that ride the ferris wheel together." You cross your arms in rebuttal at his air quotes. "And send good morning messages literally every day. Yeah I can hear her annoying message tone from down the hall. Sounds an awful lot like a date, Bellabooty. And I heard about your little business trip. Remember what I said about being careful. The thing Weiss Schnee cares most about in this life is exactly that, Weiss Schnee."

You of all people know exactly how selfish Weiss is. And unfortunately, it's been something that's getting harder and harder to forget.


	26. The Vytal Festival

Chapter Twenty Six.

If you knew anything about Weiss, it was that when Weiss said she would pick you up at 7:30, you knew you had until at least 8 before she got to your apartment. But by 8:03 you were pacing around the apartment. Why were you anxious? You're going to be fine. Nora, Ren and Ruby were going to be there too. This will be fun. You haven't been to a festival in years. You can play those dumb games and find cotton candy or a candy apple.

Instead of knocking on the door like a real guest, Weiss just uses the extra key and throws the front door of your apartment open, causing Sun to scream out like a woman, in terror.

"Oh Gods, get over it Sun. I'm not robbing you. I'm just here to get Blake." She brushes him off like it's no big deal.

"Normal people don't just bust into someone else's home without knocking! What if I had attacked you because I thought you were a criminal?"

"Now, we both know that based on the scream you just let out, that there wouldn't be any attacking coming from you." You are finished listening to them argue about nothing, and you're late. You hate being late.

"You two need to quit arguing, we are late Weiss. We were supposed to meet everyone there at eight, not show up almost an hour late." You hastily grab your keys and bag off the hook by the front door and walk out. Leaving them both behind.

—

Weiss unlocks the doors to her white SUV and you both hop into your respective seats. She turns the radio on and begins singing along to some pop song as the two of you begin the journey to the festival grounds. It's about a 30 minute drive from your apartment, you notice as you turn on your scroll's GPS for Weiss. It's an unspoken rule between you, if you aren't driving you're navigating. After a few more minutes of relative silence, Weiss can't take you not talking to her anymore.

"Are you really mad that I was late?"

"No. I'm not mad because you were late. You're always late for everything we go to." Waving her off, she seems unsatisfied with your answer. "You look nice though. I like your skirt."

Now she knows you're just trying to annoy her.

"Oh whatever. I like your same old hoodie and jeans."

"Oh thanks, just thought I'd spice it up a bit you know, branch out."

"Quit being such a dolt." She slaps the top of your shoulder that's closest to her.

"But what if that's all I am?" You give her one of your best sad fake puppy dog faces.

"Well then that's just unfortunate." She begins to smile.

"And I'm terribly sorry for your loss." She loses her composure and lets her laughter fill the car.

"Quit it. I'm trying to drive. Do you want to spend the night in a ditch? Or at the Vytal Festival?"

"That depends, are you going to be present in the ditch as well? Or is this a solo hypothetical adventure? Because if you're going to be in the ditch too, maybe it won't be so bad. But if I'm by myself, I might get a little bored."

She rolls her eyes, still smiling at your lame jokes the rest of the way there.

—

When you pull into the packed gravel parking lot you can see tons of neon lights and people. As soon as you get out of the car you are assaulted by the sounds, smells and slight chill in the air. You have no idea how you and Weiss are going to find the rest of your group in a place like this.

Turns out that finding Ruby and Nora isn't exactly difficult if the place sells food. You pay for you and Weiss to enter the festival, mostly due to the fact that Weiss didn't think to bring any cash and the festival doesn't take cards. And offering to loan her the cash doesn't really help make matters any better.

"I cannot believe that a place like this, that would hold so many people wouldn't accept cards as a form of payment."

"Weiss, look around." You motion for her to literally just open her eyes and look at their environment. "This isn't exactly a place that screams sophistication. I'd be surprised if any of the rides are up to code or inspected for safety and the food… I don't even want to think about it."

"Are you serious?" She has this incredulous but innocent look on her face. "This place isn't safe?"

"Did you grow up in Atlas, or under a rock that you just called Atlas? Festivals are the most rundown and suspicious form of fun you can have on a grander scale."

Even though one of your favorite things to do is antagonize Weiss while she complains through her privilege, tonight you are thankful to see Nora waving from a distance like a wild woman on top of a table. Ruby is sitting next to her, stuffing an ungodly amount of cheese covered nachos in her mouth.

"Excellent! Now that everyone is here, we can finally have some fun!" Nora is always excited. Literally always. Which makes sense, because Ren always looks like he just woke up from a nap.

You walk over to the ticket booth so that you can buy tickets so that you and Weiss can get on some of the rides. You aren't really a festival ride kind of person. The opposite of a thrill seeker by nature. But you know Weiss wants to ride a few different ones, so you buy enough tickets for her.

"I will pay you back as soon as we leave, I swear."

"You know I couldn't care less if you pay me back. I don't mind." You count out the tickets the toothless lady in the booth hands you, giving about two thirds of them to Weiss.

"Well I'm going to." She stomps her foot as she takes the tickets from you.

"Well you do that then."

"Can you two pleeeeeeeeeease stop arguing like an old married couple long enough for us to get through this line and onto the ride?" Surprised to hear such a request from Ruby, you immediately shut your mouth and nod, letting Weiss take her place in the line next to Nora and Ruby.

"Here." You feel something tap you on the shoulder right after you turn around to go sit with Ren on a nearby bench. "Hold my scroll for me, I don't want to drop it on the ride." You take it from her and walk away to claim your space on the bench with Ren.

As usual, Ren isn't much of a talker. And neither are you, you suppose. So when he is the first to break the silence, you are kinda surprised.

"I don't know how you do it."

"Do what?" You are honestly intrigued.

"Put up with Weiss. I mean, I put up with Nora. But Nora is Nora. And Weiss is just… well… Weiss." Off in the background you can hear the mechanical whirring of the ride and the screaming of Weiss and Ruby, accompanied by the mixture of screaming and laughter coming from Nora.

"I don't know either. Some days it's as easy as breathing. And then there's some days where it feels like breathing underwater."

"I think it's been good for Weiss, no doubt. She has.. I don't know, softened since you've been around." You don't really know what he means by that. But there's not many people that have a nature as cold and stoic as your own. "But for you, I'm not sure. You seem to be a very consistent person. But occasionally I see you and you just look so sad."

"Well, everyone gets sad every now and then, even Nora."

"Very true."

The ride begins to slow down and the attendant is preparing the exit ramp for people to disembark.

"Just stay true to who you are, Blake. Don't lose yourself trying to keep others. Or try to make them into something they aren't."

"Will do, Ren." You nudge him with your shoulder as you both stand up to go meet up with the girls, who all look a little dizzy.

As you walk over to them, you feel Weiss' scroll buzz in your hand. Out of habit with your own scroll, you look down to check it. There's a notification saying someone sent her a buzz on an app called Bumblebee. It's a dating app you've heard about people at work using to find people to go out with. You know Cinder uses it.

It feels kinda like a shot to the chest. But you can't really be mad or upset. You and Weiss aren't dating or anything. And it's not like you ever were so… you shouldn't act like it matters. You repeat that notion to yourself multiple times as you hand Weiss her scroll back, and she checks it. You notice she dismisses the notification, not bothering to even open it.

—

The five of you continue your way through the festival grounds. You don't really care for the rides, opting out of all but two along the way, one of which will be the promised ferris wheel. But you haven't gotten to it yet.

You are way more interested in the stupid little games they have littered in booths around the grounds. And by interested, you mean more like infuriated by the audacity of these festival workers for creating unbeatable money wasting traps.

By the third stand, you are determined to grasp victory in your hands. Or at least the multicolored cat stuffed animal that's hanging up behind the vendor, as it mockingly swings in the nighttime breeze up on the hook.

This particular booth is a shooting game. Some cheap little rifle that's chained to the counter is what you have to use to shoot a little piece of cork and knock over some glass bottles that are stacked up about seven feet from you. You got this. You grew up in Menagerie for Gods' sakes. Practically the jungle. Well.. it was hundreds of years ago, but still.

"Blake, it's not that big a deal. It's just a stuffed animal. You can get those anywhere."

"That is absolutely not the point, Weiss." You say through gritted teeth as you push five more lien across the countertop to the vendor.

Everyone else has wandered off to play various other games. Weiss, having no money of her own and possibly no real interest in the games, has chosen to stay with you. And by the grace of the Gods, but you will credit it to pure skill, you manage to knock over enough bottles to claim your treasure.

"That one!" You point with ferocity when the vendor asks which stuffed animal you would like. He hands you the small tie dyed cat and you squeeze it to your chest in victory.

"I don't think I've ever seen you this excited over something before." She crosses her arms and a small smirk marks over her face.

"Hey, I worked really hard for this stupid thing. And it almost kinda looks like me a little, see?" You wiggle your Faunus ears to mimic the position of the ears on the stuffed cat.

"Okay, you dolt." Weiss hooks her arm under your elbow and pulls you down the pathway towards the area that has the ferris wheel. "Now, if I remember correctly I made you promise me two things. Ferris wheel and funnel cake."

Once you arrive in front of it, you look up to see the enormous structure that's lit with thousands of neon lights. You try to swallow the lump in your throat.

"Oh yeah, I did. Didn't I?"

—

You are clutching onto your little stuffed cat friend as the attendant lowers the safety car over your laps and locks it into place. You aren't speaking. Weiss is going on and on about how she has always wanted to ride a ferris wheel but has only ever seen one in movies. The ride creaks to life and the sound of your own pulse begins thumping in your ears. Weiss' voice fades off into the background as your Faunus ears flatten against your head as the wheel swings around to complete its first circle.

Something shakes you back into reality and you begin to hear the sounds of the world again. It's the maniacal laughter of Nora, accompanied by the sweeter but still madly sinister laughter of Ruby. It's coming from a few carts below you.

"What is wrong with you, Blake? And why are those two idiots laughing like that?"

"Blake didn't tell you Weiss? She's TERRIFIED of heights!" The laughter continues as you roll your eyes. Now that your secret is out, there's no point in trying to act like you aren't actually scared to death.

"I'm not terrified. I just don't really care for heights, is all." As you say it, your knuckles get even whiter from squeezing onto the safety bar.

Weiss has joined the other two in laughter at this point. The ride has concluded and the attendant is individually letting the riders off to exit. When it's finally your turn, you all but jump off the seat onto solid ground, still waiting and holding out the arm that doesn't have a stuffed animal in it, so that Weiss can step down carefully.

It was getting late and the festival was going to close for the night in about half an hour, so Ren, Nora and Ruby decided to go ahead and head home for the night. Saying their goodbyes and sharing one last laugh at your expense with Weiss, they turned and walked off in the direction of the parking lot.

"I cannot believe you didn't tell me that you were scared of heights. I wouldn't have made you ride the ride with me if I had known."

"Oh yes, I'm sure you wouldn't have taken any opportunity to make fun of me for being scared." You roll your eyes as you begin to walk down the pathway towards the funnel cake stand.

"Does that make you a scaredy cat?"

You literally freeze in place about five strides ahead of Weiss. She had never made a joke about you being a Faunus before, so it honestly caught you off guard.

"Did you really just ask me that?" You say as you turn to face her, with a look of seriousness on your face. Making sure to flick your ears sideways for dramatic effect.

Obviously flustered by your sudden offense, she stutters out a response.

"I was just joking, I didn't mean to offend you. I'm really sorry. I was being insensitive." Now it's your turn to laugh at her expense.

"I'm totally kidding. And for you, that was almost a funny joke." You turn back around and continue the trek to the funnel cake stand. Hearing Weiss huff in an embarrassed annoyance behind you.

Once you get to the stand, you order the funnel cake and ask the cashier for two forks and a bunch of napkins. You also ordered some cotton candy and shoved it into your bag with your stuffed animal. It's for eating at home. You may even share with Sun if you're feeling gracious. Probably not. You carry the plate full of fried dough as Weiss uses her fork to haphazardly take bites off of it. Getting the powdered sugar all over the front of her jacket as she eats. By the time you reach the festival exit gates the two of you have finished the funnel cake and you throw the remaining pieces into the trash.

"Ready to go home?" She asks as she fishes for her keys in her bag.

"Yup. I have to work at eight tomorrow morning, so I could probably use the sleep."

"Blake! Why didn't you say you have to work so early? It's almost one in the morning."

"Doesn't matter, I always go to sleep super late anyways." You shrug your shoulders. It's whatever.

—

Weiss drives you home, all while singing so loudly you're surprised the windows didn't crack from the frequency. You ask if she wants to come in for a few minutes when you arrive. She hops out of the car in agreement, saying that she is kind of thirsty and some water would be amazing. Once you open the door to your apartment, you make your way to the kitchen and Weiss heads off in the direction of your room. You fill a glass and grab your stuffed animal off the table and walk off towards your bedroom. You find Weiss sitting on the edge of your bed, looking at the box full of letters you wrote while she was in Atlas. You forgot you left them out.

"You wrote me letters when I was gone?" There's a quiet sadness in her voice.

"I never sent them, clearly."

She takes the glass from your outstretched hand. She looks up at you, blue eyes looking watery and tired. Her hand carefully runs over the top of one of the letters.

"Can I read them?"

You aren't really sure how to answer. I mean, you wrote them as though they were being sent for her to read. Why shouldn't she be allowed to read them? They were meant for her.

"You can have them. They've just been sitting in this box for what, like a year now?"

"Okay." She quietly responds, but remains seated on the edge of the bed running her thumb over the edges of the envelopes.

Not really sure what to say, you leave her there while you begin your nightly routine and start preparing for bed. You set out your pajamas. And you start brushing your teeth. This must shake Weiss out of whatever daydream she's in.

"I'm so sorry. I'm just sitting here like an idiot while you're probably exhausted and need to get ready for bed. I should go." You look up from the sink as you wipe the toothpaste foam off your face.

"I mean, you don't have to go unless you want to. I'm not kicking you out at all."

"No, no, it's super late and you need to sleep so you can work without passing out tomorrow. And I also work tomorrow and…" Her gaze drifts off to the stuffed animal from the festival. "That thing does have ears like yours, doesn't it?"

"You can have it." Picking it up, you place it in the box full of letters for Weiss to take home.

"I can't possibly take it, you worked so hard to win it."

"Eh, I don't really need it. I have my own." Pointing up to your Faunus ears, wiggling them to prove your point.

You walk Weiss out to her car, opening the door for her so she can place the box on the front seat. She takes her seat and turns the key, bringing the engine to life. You and your minty fresh breath stand there awkwardly as she rolls the window down and rests her elbow on the sill and leans out towards you.

She's looking at you strongly. There's a determined look on her face and her eyes almost sparkle from the street lights. You open your mouth to speak, to drive away the silence, but she beats you to it.

"This is going to sound really weird, and it's totally fine if you say no. But, oh Gods this is so embarrassing." She moves to hide her face in her hands.

"Just say it Weiss. I'm sure it's not big deal."

"Can I touch your ears?" Never in the three years that you've known Weiss have you ever seen her face turn this red. It's kind of amusing, maybe a little cute.

No one's ever asked to touch your ears before. You guess humans probably consider it taboo and another Faunus wouldn't care about it.

"You want me to go wake Sun up, and see if you can touch his tail too? I'm sure he wouldn't mind." When you say it, Weiss looks absolutely mortified. Maybe, just this once, you won't tease her. "I'm just joking Weiss." But she's already buried her face in her hands in shame. Now you almost feel bad that she's THAT embarrassed.

You reach out and carefully grab her hand and pull it towards you. You wait until she looks up so she can see you lean your head down just enough for you to place her hand at the bottom of your left ear. Cautiously she rubs her thumb along the edges of your ear. The look on her face softening, but the redness of embarrassment still remains. The moment only lasts about ten seconds but as soon as she removes her fingers from your ear you already miss the touch.

"So, was it everything you ever dreamed of?" You wiggle your eyebrows and give her a sly smile.

"You're such a dolt. But they are very soft, like velvet."

"I aim to please." As you take a slight bow, you hear her scoff at you.

"Okay then. It's way past your bedtime, Miss Belladonna. I will see you at work tomorrow morning."

"Only if you're lucky. Message me when you make it home safe."

"No."

Knowing that she isn't serious, you walk back into your apartment and flop down onto your bed, placing your scroll on the wireless charger next to your bed before closing your eyes. While you wait for sleep to claim your mind, you hear the faint sound of a message from Weiss. Eventually, you drift off into a decent night's sleep.


	27. Business Tripping

Chapter Twenty Seven.

You needed to get on the airship at 6am, so you needed to be at the station and ready to go by around 4:30 or 5, in order to make it through security checks in time. But here you are at 5:17am, carrying your backpack and lugging Weiss' oversized suitcase to the check in counter. Suffice to say, you are a little agitated.

You pay the 50 lien fee to check Weiss' luggage because it's far too heavy to carry on. As you walk up to the back of the security checkpoint line, you have enough anxiety to kill you. This is honestly your fault. How could you possibly think Weiss would've been prepared to leave on time, arrive on time and be 100% prepared for this trip? It was an assumption you should've known better than to make. But thank the Gods, by some miracle your airship was delayed ten minutes and you make it to the gate in time, with Weiss in tow.

"Well, that wasn't too bad. And the flight is only a few hours. So, so far so good." She seems pleased as she takes the seat on your left. You demanded the window for your pain and suffering.

"You are going to be lucky if I don't hold a pillow over your face in your sleep at this point." Rolling your eyes and getting a book out of your carry on bag.

"What do you mean? We made it here, on time. And we are going to have an awesome four days, this is basically like a vacation from work, paid for by work."

"You know that we are actually going to be working on this trip, right?"

You roll your eyes for what feels like the billionth time this morning and put your ScrollPods into your ears, start playing some music and lean back into your seat. Maybe you can drown your agitation with some music for the next few hours.

—

"I had no idea that this was going to be so much work." Weiss climbs up onto the barstool next to you. "And I feel like I haven't seen you the entire time that we've been here. And it's already been three days."

"Yeah. These seminar things are ridiculously long. And not very entertaining." You take a sip of the drink as the bartender slides it over to you. "And the only reason I know you are around is because I can hear you snoring like a dying Grimm in your bed or on the couch by the time I get back to the room."

"I do not snore."

"Okay. Sure. You don't snore. But the dangerous beast you're sharing a room with at night does."

"Whatever. I know you're just so lucky to have me here that you can hardly stand it." She pokes you in the arm and you give her your best face of disgust.

"At least there's a rooftop bar in this hotel." Weiss hums in agreement as she throws back the remaining bit of her second drink.

You have just finished the third day of the conference thing Ozpin sent you both here for. It was mostly going over repair techniques and discussing processes and ways to make improvements with the corporate level people. Interesting, but not at all what you had anticipated.

"Well, at least we don't have to work tomorrow. And the airship doesn't leave until the following morning. So we basically have a day to do whatever we want."

Weiss drags her tipsy gaze back over in your direction.

"Well, since we are in Vacuo we need to find tacos. Isn't that like… their speciality?" She looks actually confused, which you find hilarious.

"I'm sure Vacuo is known for more than tacos. Maybe some other historical feat of some kind, other than the perfection of the taco." Before you can even recoil, you feel a palm swat across your upper arm. It was a little harder than normal.

"Okay! Fine, we can go eat tacos tomorrow." She raises her hand again to slap you for your snarky attitude. "And maybe some margaritas." She slowly lowers her hand back to the tabletop of the bar, and the two of you continue drinking in relative silence.

As you finish your fourth drink, you definitely feel it. But you think it's fine, seeing as how your room is only about four floors below you. Wino, you mean Weiss, is on glass of wine number three and can barely keep herself still on the top of the bar stool. She sways your way and knocks shoulders with you.

"I've been reading your letters, ya know. I've read like ten of them so far."

"Well, only like 84 left to go then."

"It makes me feel like I missed too much life while I was gone. I really missed it."

"Missed what?" She reaches out and goops you on the end of the your nose, and you cross your eyes as you follow the end of her finger.

"This. And I missed you a lot dummy." She rests one of her hands on your outstretched forearm. And something begins to ache in your chest.

"You should've. I'm very missable."

The ache in your chest becomes secondary to Weiss rolling her eyes so hard at you that she loses her balance and almost falls off her stool, but you reach out and grab onto her sleeve and keep her in place.

"Always so dramatic. I hope Winter isn't as dramatic as you. I would hate to think there's two people of your.. calibre.. out there in the world." You give her a sly smile.

"Kiss. My. Ass." She pokes you on your cheek to accentuate every word, and because you're drunk you let her. "And no, Winter has always had a stick up her ass. Kissing our parents' ass, doing whatever they wanted her to do. But you know what I want to do?"

"I have no idea. But I know you're about to tell me."

"I am going to take a shot. Right now."

"Oh dear Gods, don't you think the wine was enough?"

But at this point, there's nothing you really can or want to do to stop her.

—

An hour later and maybe three or was it four shots of triple distilled Vacuoan tequila, you have Weiss thrown over your shoulder and are stepping into the elevator.

"You are being ridiculous. I am peachy. A perfect angel. We didn't need to leave."

"You literally told the bartender to, and I quote 'suck your ass' when he wouldn't give you another shot. It was well past time for us to go."

You gently lean over and set her down, or try to. She can't stand firmly so you prop her up against the back wall of the elevator. As she slides off your shoulder she wraps her arms around your neck, and essentially pull you down towards her until your forehead rests against hers. All you see is the blue of her eyes and all you smell is the tequila that lingers on her breath.

"Too close." You whisper to her, even though you are the only ones in the elevator. Immediately pulling away from her, spinning to stand next to her instead.

"You are not fair." She starts pouting.

"And you are drunk, and I may not be fair but I do have rules."

"But you are drunk too."

"That is also true." The elevator dings for your floor, and you grab her hand and pull her out and towards the room. "But I also have other rules."

You leave Weiss on the couch in the communal living area while you go find her some pajamas. You drag her into her room and tell her to come back out into the living room once she's finished changing. Once she returns you help her wash off her makeup and brush her teeth. And when she's finally crawled into bed, you promise to wake her up tomorrow and you will see her in the morning.

By the time you finish getting yourself ready for bed and spend a little bit of time reading, you feel exhausted. Not physically. But your brain just hurts.

There are times where it feels like all you ever need, or want is Weiss. But you are never sure if Weiss even feels close to how you feel. And you would never want to take advantage of her in any way to compromise the friendship you have. There are times when it's just the two of you and it feels like there's nothing else in the world that matters. But then there are times where it's only Weiss, and it's as though you don't exist. And that's not something you are sure you can be okay with. It's not a rule that you can break. But at the same time, you know Weiss isn't completely to blame. This is half on you. All these feelings you have, that you wonder if she also ever has, you just keep them to yourself. And no one knows. There is only one place other than your mind that anything close to those feelings has ever been. In Weiss' letters. But you aren't sure if she is ever going to finish them. Or if she will even talk to you about what you wrote in them.

You decide that you will just cross that bridge when you get to it. Or if you ever get to it. For now, sleep is the acceptable alternative.

—

The morning comes slightly earlier than you had hoped. It's a little after 10am. You wanted to sleep in about an hour later, considering you were up super late the night before. But you were woken up by the sound of a distinct thud. The thud was followed shortly by a groan. So you pry yourself from the comfort of your own bed to go investigate, even though you have a fairly decent idea of what you will find.

And sure enough, there she is. Hangover Weiss has fallen out of the bed, onto the floor and continued to sleep. Still wrapped up in her blankets. All the blankets, actually.

"Hey Weiss. It's time to get up." You nudge her with your foot.

"I refuse." Her face remaining buried in the pillow.

"I'm not giving you the option. Wake up. We have things to do today. "

"It's a Sunday and we don't have to go to work. What is there to possibly do? And turn off the damn light." She looks up at you, squinting like she's being blinded.

"I can't turn off the 'damn light' because it's the sun. Get off the hotel floor before I pick you up myself and throw you in a cold shower."

The threat of the cold seems to rouse her from her state of being. Weiss gets up off the ground, which allows you to feel confident enough to leave her room and go into the kitchen to make some tea and coffee for you both.

As the coffee finishes brewing, Weiss steps out into the kitchen looking rather worse for wear.

"How could you possibly be able to live right now? I feel like I'm actually dead."

"Well some of us didn't spend 75 lien on liquor and wine last night. That, and you're a serious lightweight, so I'm surprised you've made it this far."

Out of the corner of your eye you see a vaguely familiar yet inappropriate hand gesture, but you really don't care. You hear your scroll buzz on the counter and you unlock it to read the email you just received from Ozpin.

"Oh, great."

"What now?" She leans forward to read the email over your shoulder.

"We just got an email. They changed our flight back to Vale. We are leaving late tonight instead of in the morning because Ozpin wants us back at the store tomorrow."

"Are you serious?" You slowly nod. "But what about tacos?" The distress in her voice makes you chuckle.

"Chill out, we still have plenty of time to check out of here and go find tacos before we have to return the rental car and get to the airship later tonight."

—

Fast forward two hours and you're standing on the streets of Vacuo in front of a taco truck with Weiss beside you. She has on dark sunglasses and looks completely out of her element.

"Have you ever ordered from a food truck before?" You don't ask to patronize her, for once, but because you are curious as to why she looks like a lost child with a severe hangover.

"Actually, no. They don't have street food in Atlas."

"Well, you have to walk up to the window thing and tell them what you want. There is no magical food truck lady that pops out and comes over here to take your order."

"I know that you dolt. I just don't know what to get."

"All this time complaining and begging to get these damn tacos and here we are and you don't know what to get?"

Making the decision for both of you, you hand her the keys to the rental car and she looks at you, confused.

"I'm not driving."

"Oh, I know. Just go sit in the car. I'll get the tacos. And before you even think to open your mouth to complain, I don't want to hear it. We don't have all day, so please go get in the car."

She opens her mouth to protest, but you flatten your ears and she takes it as her queue to just go sit in the car. You've known Weiss over three years at this point. Pretty sure you can pick out tacos for her. You make your selections. Getting a soda for yourself and you actually decide to get Weiss a margarita. If anything, it may help take the edge off. Make her highness less grouchy. Delivering the food back to the car, you hop in the driver's seat and set off to find somewhere for you guys to eat. Eventually, you find a small park that has some tables you can pick a spot to eat at.

"I still don't know how you picked the exact ones that I was going to get."

"If I had left it up to you, we would still be standing there while you gawked at the menu."

"Also, this margarita is saving my life right now."

"Hair of the dog. What almost killed you last night can help you live a little longer today."

You spend the next few hours walking around the city and looking in some of the local shops. It's a pretty neat place and they have a lot of cool and eclectic things. You found a wall tapestry for Sun and a scented candle for Yang. Even though you would never think it, Yang is obsessed with scented candles.

"You know, wasting time with you is easy." She hooks her elbow with yours as you continue down the street.

"What do you mean?"

"We've literally spent four days here and it feels like we just stepped off the airship."

"Well, it's a little after six so we need to get ready to step right back on it." You give her a sideways frown. It's time to start the journey home.

"I know, I wish we didn't have to yet." She rests her head on your shoulder for a moment before straightening back up.

"We could always go rogue. Disappear and rob banks for fun." She smiles at your obvious joke and continues along her previous train of thought.

"What I mean is that I am glad to have you around. You are a good friend, so thank you for you know, being around."

"For an ice queen, you are rather tolerable as well."

—

As you tote Weiss' luggage back to the check in counter of the airship station, you can't stop thinking about how this just gets more and more difficult every time you try not to feel anything.


	28. Other People

Chapter Twenty Eight.

It has been a month since your return from Vacuo. Ever since you came back, Weiss has slowly descended back into one of her "I'm going to pretend you don't exist" moods. She hasn't spoken to you in about three days. Not that you are counting or anything. But you've been busy with work and other stuff, so you don't let it consume your thoughts like it would have months ago. Instead you just let it gnaw at the back of your mind.

You figure something is up. Because the only time Weiss acts like this is when she's doing stuff she is either trying to hide from you or wants to flaunt in you face, but not actually talk about.

One day when you are getting something out of your locker you hear some people talking about Weiss and Cinder. Cinder, whom you still hate, for the record. Apparently, Weiss had been interested in some guy she found on the Bumblebee app. You mentally note that Weiss is still using the same app you saw on her lock screen on accident while you guys were at the Vytal Festival. You feel your heart beginning to sink from your chest. And it starts sinking faster the longer you eavesdrop on this conversation.

"Yeah I heard Weiss had gone on a few dates with this guy and she said she liked him and then Cinder found the guy on the app and messaged him and went and slept with him! Can you believe that?"

At first you aren't sure if you're disappointed that Weiss as been casually seeing some guy that you've never nothing about until now, or if you're furious because of Cinder's behavior, and Weiss has decided to still associate with her. Since you can't decide on if whether or not you're angry or sad, you do the most logical thing you can think of. Slam the locker door. It startles the two gossiping girls enough for them to stop the conversation they're having.

"Oh, I'm sorry." You mockingly apologize. "Did I interrupt something?"

Keeping your tone stoic and monotone. You have a reputation to uphold at work. To you, that was a good thing. In this case, good enough for these girls to quickly walk in separate directions looking at the ground as they walked.

The rest of your day, you couldn't be considered anything less than grouchy. But you powered through all the appointments. Just getting down to the point with every customer. And not bothering to make small talk. Even after drinking some tea on your break, your favorite peppermint tea, you were still pissed off. It didn't help that you noticed Weiss actively ignoring you. You held a door open for her ad she walked right past you. You may as well been part of the wall. How could today possibly get any more irritating than it is now?

Lies, it always can. Especially when you help this guy named Scarlet, and all he does the entire appointment is hit on you. What kind of a name is Scarlet anyways? For a guy. At first you cautiously avoid engaging in his pathetic attempts. Brushing him off. He is completely not someone you would remotely be interested in, if you were ever interested, that is.

He's fairly handsome but still. He's trying way too hard. He seems to give up towards the end and when you hand him back his Scrollbook, fixed and in proper working condition, he tucks his tail and goes. You breathe out a sigh of relief. Finally. Poor guy just wouldn't take the hint.

You're cleaning up all the cables you had used during your appointment with Scarlet when you feel someone tap you on the shoulder. And you swear to Gods, if it's him, you will throat punch him. When you turn around a little aggressively, you are met with familiar blue eyes. Not what you were expecting. And your expression immediately softens.

"Um."

She seems incredibly uncomfortable speaking to you, which pains you a little. Mostly because you don't understand why it's even like this in the first place.

"That guy you just helped, you know the cute one with the reddish brown hair. He asked me to if I could give you this." You take the paper from her outstretched hand and look down to see a scroll number scribbled on it.

"Oh uh, thanks I guess." She turns to leave you there, staring at the paper. She stops after a few steps and you see her shoulders sag slightly as she turns around to face you once again.

"I think you should go for it. He seems nice."

As if today couldn't get any worse.

—

"Okay Belladonna, spill it."

Sun was peering over the back of one of your arm chairs. You could tell he'd been waiting for you to return home from your date with Scarlet.

"There isn't much to spill." You set your bag down on the chair next to Sun and hang your keys in their usual place.

"Really? Is he just awful? He have bad breath? Cuz honestly, he was pretty hot."

"No. He was okay. It was just there was nothing there. It was like going on a date with your cousin or something. I don't know how else to describe it."

"Wow. What a seller." He sinks down into the chair, seemingly defeated.

"You know that you can go out on your own dates."

"Yeah but it's more fun to hear about yours instead. I mean, was this date any better than the first one?"

"I wouldn't really call meeting him for a drink that I paid for a date. But that being sad, I'm not really feeling like there will be another. He is nice, but it's not for me. I think it's safer for everyone if I just stick to myself for a while."

"And here I was, thinking you were actually getting over the ice queen."

"You know I don't want to talk about that. And I did promise to break your tail if you kept pressing on it." You point at him, with a serious look on your face.

"I know, I know. She really hasn't spoken to you in weeks though?"

"Nope. Not unless it has to do with work. She won't even look at me."

"That's a total bummer dude."

"Tell me about it, dude." You ruffled his hair as you walk past his chair towards the kitchen. "Anyways, you excited about your vacation? It's what? Ten days of fun at the beach with the family?"

"Yup, ten whole fun loving days with my mom and siblings. You sure you will be okay here by yourself?"

"Sun, I am grown. I will be perfectly fine here by myself. Might even do me some good."

"Well, as long as you are sure." He raises an eyebrow in your direction.

"I'm sure, I'm going to go try to read some before I head to bed. See you in the morning." As you walk past, you begin to talk off your jacket, suddenly remembering why it was buttoned all the way up in the first place.

"Wait, what the hell is all over your shirt?"

"Oh yeah, well part of the reason there won't be another date is because he knocked his drink over on me, twice."

"Damn. I'm beginning to think you have bad luck. Maybe it's got something to do with those little black ears stuck to your head."

"You sure that's a monkey tail? Maybe it's actually a donkey tail. Because you're kind of acting like a real ass." You smirk and swing a pillow at his face as you walk behind his chair, towards your room.

"Goodnight, Bellabooty."

"Goodnight, Sunshine."


	29. Heartbreak City, Population: One

Chapter Twenty Nine.

They say that absence makes the heart grow fonder. In your case, it feels like absence has made the heart pissed off at someone else for being a selfish ass. It's not like you haven't made attempts to talk to her. Sent her messages that never got a reply. Tried to, you know, act like she's your friend. But it's been like talking to a wall. Most of the things you know about Weiss these days you keep up with on her various social media accounts. She seems to be enjoying the nightlife and the people in it. She's still hanging out with Cinder, that you will never understand and you've given up trying to.

You told Yang that you don't want to talk about it anymore. Any of it. You can tell that she's worried for your sanity some times. But you will be fine. You just don't understand how someone went from being one of the most prominent and important people in your personal life to being virtually nonexistent to you socially, while remaining present physically. Painful. It's been painful to say the least. Hurtful.

You thought Weiss would at least tell you something. Is she mad? Did you do something to hurt her feelings? You literally have no idea. And any attempt you have made to bridge the divide has been met with nothing but silence. You thought about asking Ruby or Nora if they knew anything, but decided it's best not to involve them. Pyrrha suggested that you either walk right up to her and demand to know what's wrong, or just meet fire with fire. In this case, silence with silence. That Weiss would come around when she was ready. But you don't know if you're willing to sit and wait around forever.

A few days later, you're walking to your car after work. You had to park on the top floor of the parking deck because the shopping mall was so busy. You climb the four flights of stairs, hearing the familiar clicking of a wedged shoe a few floors below you. You get halfway across the lot of the parking deck floor before you turn around so that you can face your not so secretive parking deck stalker.

"So are you just going to continue to follow me and not speak to me?" The orange of the sunset is reflecting off of her white hair, and it makes you sad how pretty it is.

"I always forget that you can hear a lot better than everyone else. Also, I parked right there." She won't meet your gaze and points in the direction of her own car.

You both stand there, staring at everything but each other for almost a minute before you decide that this may be the only chance you get to talk to her.

"Are you mad at me? Did I do something wrong?"

When she brings her eyes back to center on yours, the emotion inside of them is hard for you to read.

"I read your letters. All of them. A few times." Is she really not speaking to you over letters that you wrote well over a year ago? There is a stutter in her voice that is uncharacteristic of her. "I- I- I'm sorry, Blake. But I don't feel the same way."

She looks away before she finishes her sentence. Oh, this is where this is going to go. You take a second to absorb what she just said and nod slowly before answering, choosing the words carefully.

"I understand." It's literally the only thing you can force out of your mouth. Because you know whatever is about to come next is going to hurt you, a lot.

"I don't. At all." When she finally looks back up and makes eye contact, her eyes are sharp and disapproving.

"What do you mean?"

"How can you just be okay with this? You basically said that you love me in those letters." Now it's your turn to look at the ground. "And you just think we can be the same? And I tell you that I don't feel the same way as you do and you're just okay with it?"

"You're angry with me? That I never said anything to you?"

"You were supposed to be my best friend. How could you hide something like this from me and then just say that it's okay when it's clearly not? How are we supposed to be friends after something like this? I don't know how I am supposed to be around you, knowing that you feel like this. I don't know if we can even be friends anymore. And how can I even be sure you even love me when you've been hiding it from me this entire time?"

Something inside of you breaks when she says that. When she doubts you. The tears are forming in your eyes and you know you don't have long until they become large enough to start falling.

"You know what Weiss? You're right. I don't think I'm in love with you. Not anymore at least. How could I be? I may not have treated you fairly, but you sure as hell haven't treated me fairly either. But I do know that you are my friend. And I don't want to lose one of the most important friendships I've ever had. So I'm sorry that I didn't have the courage to tell you in person, and that you had to read something like that in letters when it was too late. But I don't think we should give up on our friendship. And I know it's not an excuse, but I wasn't keeping anything from you that I wasn't also keeping from myself. And if you don't think we can be friends anymore, then I do understand."

With that, you turn back around and take the final few steps to your car.

"I don't want to lose you either."

It's quiet. But you have no issue hearing it. Her confession is unexpected. You thought she would just maintain her silence and let you drive off.

"I never went anywhere, Weiss. But if you expect me to stay, then you need to start treating me like I'm a person and not a piece of wall art that occasionally holds the door open for you."

With that you close the car door and leaving her standing there at the top of the parking deck. You're tired of feeling feelings for today. And why is it that when you finally act selfishly, you feel absolutely awful about it?


	30. Party Til the Sun Goes Home

Chapter Thirty.

"Oh come on Blake, it's your birthday. We have to do something!"

"We haven't done 'something' for like the last four years, why start now? Or do you want me to do something because you're looking for an excuse to go out?"

"It may be a little bit of that." He looks away in admittance, but quickly reestablishes eye contact. "But it's your 25th birthday. We have to live it up!"

After a few days of relentless begging, you cave and agree to go out to a whiskey bar and have a few quiet drinks with something friends. But nothing crazy.

"Okay, so Saturday at nine at the White Fang Whiskey Bar downtown." He looks up from his scroll, surely about to send the final group text to confirm plans.

"Sounds fine. Do you think everyone will want to go there? It's downtown and kind of a long drive for some people."

"Blake, it's your birthday, they will come. And now," he looks back down at his scroll in determination, "the invite list."

"I don't want a lot of people. Just close friends. Like Ruby, Nora, Neptune, Yang… is out of town so nevermind, Ren of course and Pyrrha."

"Okay I'm going to message everyone now. But…" he has hesitation in his voice and you know where he's about to go, "What about Weiss? Do you want me to invite her? How are you guys doing?"

After your chat on the roof of the parking deck things had slowly gotten better. They were by no means perfect. No where near it. But you were back to speaking like you were both living and breathing human beings, for lack of better term. At work and occasionally when you weren't. Anywhere that you had to go and she was there it wasn't an issue anymore. You set boundaries for yourself and had stuck to them. Because at the end of the day Weiss was still Weiss and you were still Blake.

"You can invite her. Shouldn't be a problem." You don't even bother looking up from your book.

—

Throughout the week you get invitation acceptance for everyone. Even Weiss.

"Hey, I saw Sun's text about tomorrow. I just haven't remembered to respond. I have to work until eight, but i'll be there." She nod in affirmation of what she just told you.

"Cool. I know you don't really drink whiskey, but I'm sure they'll have other stuff to drink or eat."

"Trust me, I'll find something to drink I'm not worried about that."

"Okay, well cool. I guess I'll see you there." You take your turn to nod in affirmation and make your way home after your shift at Scroll.

—

You never really celebrate your birthday. It's not really your thing. Because technically it's just another day. It always begins with messages from your mom, and one surprisingly early from Weiss. But you don't give it a second thought. Mom also says that the messages are from your dad as well, but you know better. He's always been a very busy man. Traveling throughout Menagerie constantly for work. Which wasn't always a bad thing. It allowed you to live very comfortably and grow up with things that other kids didn't have the luxury to.

So you spend most of your birthday just relaxing at home. You slept in late. Which was an amazing gift on its own. You did all of your laundry, and cleaned up your bed and bathrooms. You even did a quick sweep through the whole apartment. Not that it really needed. The apartment is always super clean.

After you shower and pick out the outfit you are going to wear tonight. You put on your trusty sweat pants and t-shirt, settling in to play a few hours worth of video games.

You hear Sun come home a little after seven, even though you have on your gaming headset but your Faunus ears are flitting back and forth and can hear Sun lean against the doorway of your bedroom.

"Hey, you aren't ready yet?"

"We aren't meeting everyone until nine, right? I have plenty of time." You flip your headset mic back down so that the people in your team can hear you once again. "I have to finish this mission. Not that we ever will, with these morons!"

Sun laughs and walks off down the hall towards his room.

"Okay, just let me know whenever you're ready to go!" He shouts at you as he shuts his bedroom door.

—

Now it's 8:15 and you're scrambling in front of the bathroom mirror. Your hair isn't cooperating and you sneezed, so now your mascara that you just applied makes you look like a raccoon instead of a cat Faunus. To make matters worse, you can hear Sun snickering from behind the door. After about 25 minutes of struggling, you emerge from your room, ready to go.

"I see the Bellabooty is ready to go, looks like the rest of you is too. And looking rather presentable." You roll your eyes and grab your wallet. "Let me get my keys and we'll go. Obviously, I'll be your chauffeur this evening."

"Oh, lucky me." You fake excitement as you lead the way out of the apartment.

"Very lucky indeed. And the first drink is on me."

"So kind. But I can't be getting too crazy. I have to work tomorrow."

"Fine. I'll do my best to keep an eye on you."

"Yeah, because that's always turned out so well."

"I said my best, not that I would be successful."

He's not wrong.

—

The White Fang place is pretty chill. They got you all a table in the outdoor patio area. Even though it was freezing outside, they had enough space heaters to keep the space warm. As he promised, the first drink was on Sun. Something filled with whiskey, your favorite. Ruby bought the second one. Ren the third. Neptune was there to make sure you were drinking enough water and eating something. But the drinks kept coming.

"You're going to be very sad tomorrow if you don't eat something other than hummus and drink this water." He forces the glass back into your hands.

"I don't need dehydration to be sad, sir." You raise your glass and clink it against his.

"Preach it."

You swirl the liquor in the bottom of your new glass and try to stare daggers into it, trying to avoid the thought trying to avoid additional conversation.

"I thought Weiss said she was going to be here too. Where the hell is she?" Whoop there it is. You widen your eyes and nod into your glass.

"Listen Neptune," you can hear the slur in your own voice "if I know anything in this world, it's that Weiss Schnee does what Weiss Schnee wants." And with one final swirl, you down the last bit of your drink.

"And Weiss Schnee wants to be right here."

You feel the blood in your veins go ice cold and red hot all at once. She's standing right behind you. You slowly turn around on your stool so that you can properly face the chastising that you're sure is about to slam down upon you.

"Happy birthday, you dolt. Sorry I'm late, I got lost and I messaged you but you never answered." You didn't even think to check your scroll since you'd been here. But your mind was kind of floating like a butterfly through its alcohol induced haze. So you can barely react when she wraps her arms around you in a rather tight hug.

"Thanks, you too." You parrot back to her. Wait, why did you say that?

"Haha, okay, someone has had some drinks already huh?"

"Yes, but only like five." You wave her off and turn back around towards the table.

"I got you something." There is an inflection of temptation in her voice.

"Is it a drink?" The possibility of more alcohol makes it too easy for your to sway and turn the stool back around to face her.

"No." You huff in disappointment. But you perk your Faunus ears up when you see a pristinely wrapped gift in front of you. "You can open it when you get home, I don't want it to get messed up or… spilt on."

"Okay. Cool. I will let Sun put it in his car. Thank you so much. You didn't have to get me a gift or anything at all. It's really nice of you." She begins laughing and you look up at her with a small snarl on your face.

"But I wanted to, and like you said, Weiss Schnee does what Weiss Schnee wants." She turns on her heels and leaves you on that stool with the small wrapped box in your hands.

—

You all continue through the night. Pyrrha went home first, wanting to get home before it got too late. Nora and Ren followed shortly after, once every else had chosen to head to a club down the street. You don't really remember getting into the car and getting here. You just remember the bass of the music. And the shots. There must've been at least five of them.

Ruby, always energetic, drags you upstairs to the dance floor area of the club. It's one of your rules, you don't dance. It's not your move. Literally. But at this point you don't really have much physical control over whatever it is you're doing. So you indulge Ruby for a few minutes.

It could've been two minutes. It could've been two hours. You aren't really sure. But eventually someone interrupts by grabbing your hand, intertwining your fingers and pulling you away from the center of the crowd.

"Dance with me." She says as she leans in so that her mouth is right next to your ear. And the icy cold and fiery hot blood begins to rush back through your veins.

If it were possible, you probably would've melted into a puddle on the floor. Her white hair is pulled up into her signature side ponytail, and it hangs loosely over her shoulder. She has on a black blouse that is low cut, and a white plaid skirt with black tights and thigh high boots. But you know where this will end up, and there are rules. Boundaries.

"I think I need to go sit outside for a little bit. It's really hot in here and I don't think dancing is a good idea."

You mean it in more than one way. Dancing with her. That, and you feel like you might be sick. And it's a good thing you did go outside. Sun is holding your hair to the side while you throw up in the bushes on the side of the building. While Weiss just stands there looking down at you sympathetically. Great.

Once you finish doing what you had to do, you look up at both of them. Feeling a mixture of disgust with yourself and being completely embarrassed. Sun has the usual "oh Blake" look on his face and Weiss has a small tipsy smirk. You rest your attention on Weiss. You have to say something. Apologize for being repugnant or something.

"Do you have a mint, by chance?" She throws her head back in laughter.

"Aaaaaaaaand it may be time to go home. I'm going to go get the car. Can you keep an eye on her for me?" Sun stands back up and fishes his keys from his pocket.

"Sure, do you mind if I grab a ride with you? I actually left my car at your apartment after I got lost and I RemLifted from there."

"That's fine, I'll be back in a few minutes. Keep her here. She is an escape artist when she wants to be." He turns and starts off in the direction of his car.

"Quit talking about me like I'm not sitting right here, on the ground." You yell after him, but you get no reaction as he continues off down the street.

You stand up, only to sit back down on the half wall that's next to the bushes. Leaning forward, you rest your face in your palms. You feel Weiss walk up next to you and pull your head against her stomach as she begins to scratch your scalp with her fingernails. It feels way better than it should. Especially when they brush the bottoms of your Faunus ears. Deciding it's time to stand up you press your hand flat against her thigh and separate from her.

"Can we walk down the street, please?" You point your thumb the opposite way from where Sun wandered off and take a few steps down the sidewalk.

"Why exactly do we need to do that?" You can hear the clicking of heels on the pavement, letting you know you've already won. "Sun is going to be here in just a second."

You stop walking and turn around to look at her. And you feel sadness wash over you. Thank you alcohol.

"I would like to walk down the street. Please." As you make eye contact, you see her resolve dwindle. And off you both go down the street. Not far. And Weiss' arm is strongly hooked with yours so that you cannot wander off too far on your own.

"This place is good. We can stop now, please."

"Why do you keep saying please? And is this the lovely destination of our 3am street adventure?"

"Of course there was a destination. I would never make you walk aimlessly through the night. That would be rude."

You take a slow look around. There are no cars. The road is well lit with street lamps. There is virtually no one around. Perfect. You grab onto her hand and pull her off the sidewalk into the middle of the street. You throw your scroll music app on shuffle and turn the volume up. You put your hands on her shoulders and make sure she is standing squarely in front of you. The remaining alcohol that you didn't get rid of in those bushes only inhibits you slightly.

"Blake, why are we standing in the middle of the street in the dead of night?"

"Because." You take a calculated, but wobbly step back and reach out your hand to her, "you wanted to dance."

The purest smile that you've seen in a while finds its way across her face as she takes your hand. You dance with her there in the street for about two and a half songs. You twirl her around and it almost throws you both off balance, but you catch yourself right before you fall. Weiss throws her head back and laughs. You forget everything that had happened that night but what is happening right now. That is.. until you hear the sound of a car horn blaring and the well known voice of a monkey Faunus yelling at you.

"Are you serious right now? Get your asses in the car! I've been looking for you guys for like ten minutes. And you're down here dancing in the middle of the damn street? Like for real?"

—

You spend the 20 minute drive home getting scolded by your roommate while Weiss looks on in sympathy from the backseat. By the time you pull into the space in front of your apartment you feel like a child that got in trouble by dad. You tuck your metaphorical tail and walk into the apartment. You can hear Sun talking to Weiss at the top of the stairs.

"It's super late, do you want to stay?" Faunus ears perk up involuntarily. "I'd hate for you to drive home this late. And you seem a little drunk still."

"Are you sure? I don't want to impose on…." You hear Weiss' voice fade off. Knowing that she's talking about imposing on you, specifically. So you yell out to them.

"It's fine Weiss. I need to sleep out here on the couch tonight. Mostly because I don't know if I can make it to my room. So you can sleep in my room."

Weiss opens her mouth to protest but you collapse onto the couch and rest your face on the cool fabric and close your eyes.

"Oh thank Gods." You can hear them mumbling as you drift off to sleep.

—

Death. Death would be better than how you feel right now. You peeled yourself off the couch and grabbed the glass of water and pain relievers off the table in front of you. There's a note that says "I have a feeling you are going to need these. I already called Ozpin and told him Sun is going to cover your shift for you. Enjoy the extra day off. ~ Weiss."

"Why? I'm not even sick. I can totally go to work." You smell Sun's coffee brewing in the kitchen and immediately start gagging. "Okay, maybe not."

You go wash your face and brush your teeth and shower. Much needed after the night you had. Speaking of.. you lean over a peek into your bedroom. The bed is made, but differently than how you do it. Weiss. On top of the duvet is the small wrapped box she had given you the night before. You had forgotten about it during your drunken stupor.

After you get dressed you find yourself sitting on your bed, crossed legged next to a small box. Staring it down like it owes you money.

It seems like hours that you stare at the small purple box before you begin to slowly peel away the paper. Once you tear enough off so that you can open the lid from the box, you take a deep breath and lift the lid.

A tear falls as you lift the picture frame from the tissue paper it rests in. The photo in the frame is over two years old. You have your eyes closed laughing and Weiss is next to you with her arms wrapped around your neck. Smiling so wide it looks like it could make her face hurt. On the back of the photo there is a written note. You recognize the handwriting as Weiss'. It says "always my favorite."

You set it on your bedside table by the lamp and roll over onto your bed. You grab one of the extra pillows and hold onto it tight. It smells like her. Another tear falls, this time into the fabric of your pillow. And you drift off back into a dreamless sleep.


	31. Parking Lot Peeping

Chapter Thirty One.

After your birthday shenanigans, holiday season was beginning to pick up at Scroll. So it had been work all day and into the nights, then you would go home to sleep and start it all over the next day. All of you. Sun had opted to stay in Vale this year, so at least you had someone to spend the holidays with. It was nice.

But now the holidays were winding down and things were going back to normal. You also had two new technicians to take through training. Weiss had helped to train them, as well as the other new sales employees, for the basics. There was about four or five of them in total. You never really paid too much attention to newbies unless they were technicians, or they made it past their first few months. There was one dude that everyone seemed to like and he seemed to get along with most people. Apparently he was in a band or something too. But he was dumb as absolute shit. What was his name? Oh yeah, Jaune. Ruby knew him from somewhere else and had referred him to Scroll. You had also seen on Remstagram that Weiss had recently gone to one of his band's shows. You hadn't been impressed with their level of… we will call it talent.

You paid most people little attention. You stayed to your group of people and that was that. You had a pretty solid reputation as the sarcastic and stoic but reliable technician that answered questions whenever you were asked for help. But wasn't to be bothered.

So when you're working with a customer and you feel someone lingering next to you without saying anything, it put you on edge.

"Do you need something, or are you just going to hang out behind me and breathe like you're in a horror film?" Your customer snickers as you turn around to face Jaune. He still doesn't say anything. "Do you need something?"

"Oh. Um, yeah I can't get this scroll to restart so Weiss said that you would help me."

You hold out your hand for him to give you the scroll. You force it to restart. Doing nothing past basic scroll use and knowledge. This guy must be more simple than you thought. Completely unimpressive.

"Um thanks." He mumbles as he walks off. He's flat footed and walks like a duck, you notice.

—

Once you finished with your customer, you have to go into the repair room to drop off the old broken scroll into a box for the warehouse. As soon as you enter the room, Pyrrha greets you in usual fashion.

"Hello! Do you need me to put that in the return bucket for you?"

"Yes please. If you don't mind."

"I saw you helping that Jaune guy. Very nice of you to help him considering you know…"

"Considering what?"

Pyrrha was always the most trustworthy source of gossip, because she was the least likely suspect to actually gossip. She looks around and checks to make sure there's no one else in the room. The telltale sign that she's about to spill the tea.

"Well, I don't know how open they are about it but I'm pretty sure Weiss and Jaune are dating." You feel your face contort. "I saw them in his car the other night when I was leaving work and they were… pretty close if you get what I'm saying."

All you can do is hum and nod in acknowledgment as you mess with one of the Scrollbooks on the repair shelf in an attempt to feign disinterest.

"I figured that you would know already though since you and Weiss are good friends."

"You would think, wouldn't you?" There is a small bite in your voice that you can't hold back.

Pyrrha gives you a sympathetic look as technicians start coming and going throughout the room once again. You take it as you hint to go as well.

"Thanks for letting me know. Pleasure doing business with you as always, Miss Nikos."

"Same to you, Miss Belladonna."


	32. The Lie of Omission

Chapter Thirty Two.

It's been a few days and you have made it a point to go to work, do your work and then leave. Times like these you remember why you just occasionally need to spend as little time as possible with Weiss. Separation is good. But with the ironic black cat kind of luck you have, you know that all good things come to an end. And for you, intentional isolation never goes unnoticed.

Sun was obvious. Choosing to sneak up on you when you were most vulnerable. Sitting in your room playing video games. You weren't playing with anyone online but you still kept playing when he hopped on the bed next to you and started in on his mild interrogation.

"You've been kinda weird lately. Are you okay? Anything wrong?"

"No, Sun. I'm fine. Just need some space from some things at work lately." Wasn't a complete lie.

He remains silent for a few more seconds. You pretend to remain engrossed in your game. His tail begins to swing around so you know he's about to just tell you exactly what is on his mind.

"Jaune is actually a nice guy, you know. Him and Weiss seem like a good fit."

"I really couldn't give a shit. Who and what Weiss does is her business, Sun."

He raises his hands defensively. "Okay, I just don't want you sinking into the dark place. You're too good for that."

"I'm too good for a lot of things. And I'm not going to sink into the pit of despair. I just need some time by myself to make sure I don't sink into a funk. But I'm grateful that I have you here to keep me in line."

"Same. And I'm also grateful to have you here with me to help pay half the rent."

"Always the kindest monkey." He finally gets up to leave but not before one last comment.

"Always the sassiest cat."

—

The next day at work you continue your theme of going to work, working and leaving. Here you are, gathering your backpack out of your locker and digging your car keys out of your bag when she shows up. Just like always. Right when you wish she wouldn't and you aren't expecting it.

"I feel like I haven't really seen or talked to you in a while. Where have you been?"

"Considering that I work here full time, I've been here 40 hours each week. Just like you." There's a little venom in your words. Maybe a little more than you intended.

You swing your green backpack across your shoulder and head for the door. And just when you thought that you escaped, you hear the familiar sound of heels clicking on the tile floor rapidly catching up to you. You roll your eyes at the impending sound of her icy voice.

"Hey, where are you going?"

"It's 6:30, so at this present time I will be walking to my car. Once inside of it, I will drive to my house, where I live. Eventually, I will go to sleep, with the intention of waking up to do this all over again tomorrow." You continue the trek to your car.

"Can I at least walk to the car with you?"

"Aren't we already doing that?" Seeing as how you are both already outside and halfway to the parking lot, it seemed a little late for her to ask your permission. So you continue until you reach the top floor of the parking deck.

"Okay well then, how are you? How have you been doing? I haven't talked to you in a while."

"Or responded to the messages I've sent you, but hey I've heard that you're busy with other things these days."

"Why are you being so, I dunno, Blakey with me right now?"

"I'm doing alright, since you asked. And I'm sorry that me acting like myself isn't what you expected of me. How are you?"

She brushes her hands down, flattening the front of her skirt and pulls down on it to straighten it a little before answering. This action isn't lost to you. She's using it to stall for time before speaking.

"I'm actually doing really well. Winter moved out last week and I've just been doing things for myself."

Ah, you think, is that what it's called? You are glad you were able to keep that remark in your head.

"Good to hear that things are going so well for you." Tossing your backpack into the backseat, you shut the door. "I hope it keeps going just as good." You try to lead that into an exit.

"Can you just talk to me for like five minutes?" She lightly stomps her foot in protest, her voice sounding upset.

"What would you like to talk about Weiss?" Bending your ears back to openly show your annoyance.

"You don't seem okay. And I'm worried. You come to work. You don't speak to anyone. You leave the store for all of your breaks. And you run out of the building like it's on fire when it's time for you to leave. What's wrong?" Pretty observant for someone that likes to occasionally forget about your existence.

"I don't know. Maybe I'm just over it." Not a lie. "I don't enjoy work like I used to. And I'm tired of being there all the time."

"Oh. Well maybe you just need to try a different role for a while. Maybe talk to Ozpin? Do sales or something?"

You know that isn't really it. And that doing sales is the exact opposite of what would help you get out of whatever hell you feel trapped in.

"Or maybe I just need to take a vacation. That would be nice." You meant it sarcastically.

"Where would you go?" She sounds intrigued by the idea of you taking a trip.

"Honestly, I hadn't even thought about it until just now so I don't really know."

You let your eyes fall to the ground. Standing there in silence for a minute as the sun turns the sky from orange to pink. A scroll begins to ring and you check your pocket out of habit, realizing it isn't yours.

"Hello? Oh hey Jaune, I'm talking to Blake can I call you back in a few minutes?" Typical. "Yes, we are still good for dinner. I'll see you in a bit."

She turned and took a few steps away from where you were standing. As though you don't have Faunus ears and it would give her some semblance of privacy. You roll your eyes and step into your car, turning the key. In order to remind her that you are actually still there, right in front of her, you find a song you like and crank up the stereo in your car. You roll down the window and lean out as you back up from the parking space.

"Okay, well I'm going home now! Enjoy your dinner." She waves to you and sticks a finger in her ear, trying to hear the phone call over the loud music blasting out of your car.

—

The whole drive home you think about actually taking that vacation. You need to put some physical space between you and what makes you feel this way that you do in Vale.

As if by divine intervention, your scroll starts ringing and you hit the button on your steering wheel to answer the call. Clearing your throat to rid it of shakiness before you speak.

"Hi Mom."

"Hey Blake, I haven't heard from you in a while so I thought I'd just check in to see how you were doing."

"Oh. I'm doing okay."

Just another lie of omission.


	33. Death by Social Media

Chapter Thirty Three.

You usually aren't petty, you're just an ass. But today? Today you're petty. You called out sick from work today because you honestly just didn't want to go. You have a headache. And haven't been sleeping well lately. Getting maybe two to three hours a night if you were lucky.

Originally, you had woken up two hours before your shift just like any other day. You walked into the kitchen and started the water kettle for your tea and stuck a bagel in the toaster oven. While you were waiting for it to toast you started flipping through Rembook on your scroll. At first, everything was fine. You can't be bothered with all the political strife and arguments, but you do enjoy the good memes and animal videos. What you do not enjoy is being visually accosted by Weiss and Jaune's relationship. You swipe up in total disgust and move your bagel and tea mug to the table and settle in to eat your breakfast.

You continue your social media journey over to Remstagram. You mostly use it to follow some poetry writers and your friends. Plus all the food prep videos. I mean, let's be real. But there they are again. RemStory plastered all over your feed. Their lovey dovey antics are too much.

"Dear Gods, let me be. I just want my quotes and my food videos!"

It causes you to lose your remaining appetite. Tossing your bagel into the trash and dumping the tea down the sink. You decide you are sick. Sick of this shit.

You pass Sun in the living room as he heads to the kitchen, "I'm not feeling well today. I'm calling out sick. I'll be in my room, sleeping."

"Uh okay, feel better I guess. Message me if you need something."

You close the door to your bedroom and climb under the blanket that lay on top of the duvet. You realize that you haven't been able to sleep under the sheets since your birthday. When Weiss slept in your bed. You even bought new sheets. Still couldn't do it.

"Maybe I just need to burn the mattress."

After about an hour, you hear the front door open and close, letting you know that Sun has left for the day. Silence. Perfect. You begin to drift off to sleep once again.

—

You're sitting on a bench, looking out at a park of some kind. There might be some water out there, but it's kind of foggy and you can't really see. But you can hear the sound of water flowing somewhere in the distance.

You feel something that you haven't felt in a while. Nothing feels heavy. It just feels fine, okay. But in the back of your mind you know it's just a memory of how you've felt in the past. You can't see her. But you know she's there, because you can smell her perfume and the product that she puts in her hair.

"It's the same color as your eyes." Her voice is soft. How it used to be. When it was just the two of you. "The light on the water."

"But without the light, the water is the same color as your eyes."

"How do you know?"

"How do I know what?"

"That the water is blue like my eyes. You can't see the water."

"How do you know that I can't see the water?" You're still looking out into the fog, no water can be seen.

"Because, this is a dream silly." She says it so matter of factly.

"I know. But I still know what the water looks like because I've been it before." You feel a hand carefully brush under you chin and hold the opposite side of your face.

"Look at me." Finally, when you turn you can see her. Sitting there with you on the bench.

"Why do I feel so much better here with you, even though I know it's not real?" She sits still, hands now folded in her lap, just looking at you. "How can I possibly be sitting here with you right now, knowing how I feel when I'm awake and how I feel right now and it's still okay?"

"How do you know that how we feel right now isn't how we feel when we are awake?"

"You've told me that you don't, Weiss. And when I'm awake the only thing I can do is remember how I feel right now."

"So how is it that you miss this feeling so much right now, in this dream, that isn't real?"

"What are you asking me, Weiss? I don't understand."

Something starts to sound in the distance. Like the airhorn of a boat. It pulls Weiss' attention toward it.

"Wait, Weiss, what are you asking me?"

"Here, in this dream, how do you know how we feel about each other? Because this is the way things have been. But it's a dream. So how do you know?"

The droning sound continues to grow and it's clouding your mind. Sensing the frustration in you, Weiss reaches out and places her hands on the sides of your face and pulls you close, until your foreheads touch.

"Too close." You whisper.

"You know how real this is because you know the water is blue." Your eyes fall shut but the sound gets louder and louder.

—

Gasping for breath and sweating, you sit up straight in your bed. Your scroll is ringing on the table beside you.

"Hello?"

"Hey, I heard you weren't feeling well so I was just calling to check on you. See if you needed anything."

"No, I'm fine Weiss. I just had a headache but I took a nap and I'm feeling a little better."

"Did I wake you up? I'm so sorry. I'll let you go back to bed."

"No. It's okay."

"You still need to rest so I'll message you in a few hours and check on you. Feel better."

You spend the rest of the day catching up on some Mistrali baking competition show and drinking hot tea in your bed. You turned off your scroll because it was probably the best thing you could do for yourself. But it doesn't stop you from thinking about that dream. You've had it before, a few times. But never that… extensive. What the hell does it even mean? You've asked yourself the same question about 20 times so far.

And as you go back to sleep that night, you aren't any closer to the answer.


	34. Bubble Tea and an Invitation

Chapter Thirty Four.

You had used the remainder of your detached and unplanned day off to make up your mind about what you needed to do about this Weiss situation.

You need a break. Something that isn't this. So you decide that you're going to talk to Ozpin.

"Miss Belladonna! To what do I owe this…" he can tell from the slightly distressed look on your face that he may need to alter his intended phrasing, "encounter?"

"Actually sir, I would like to talk to you about something that's kind of personal. But it's affecting my work somewhat. And I would like to handle it before something happens that I can't fix."

"Well, you are very good at fixing things, as we both know. So what could possibly be bothering you to the point where you feel it beyond repair?"

"I think I need to take a leave of absence, if possible. For about three weeks. I need to separate myself from things that exist inside of this building that follow me into my home and my life when I'm not here. And I'd like some time on my own to figure things out before it makes me go crazy."

"That is a simple enough request. A leave of absence wouldn't be necessary until you do not have enough sick or vacation time, which I highly doubt. Seeing as how you've never taken vacation during your employment here yet." He raises a disapproving eyebrow. And you nod in acknowledgment of his disappointment. "I'll speak with Glynda and see if she can alter your schedule to accommodate your request. Does next week sound okay? Starting on Monday?"

"Really?" You thought it would be at least a few weeks before you would be able to plan anything. "Um absolutely. I should be able to work out everything before Monday."

You mentally count the days. You will have roughly three or four days to finalize some travel plans. Should be enough. You move to stand from your chair and continue with your daily working duties.

"Thank you, Ozpin. I really appreciate it."

"I only have two requests of you before you go, Blake."

"Yes sir?"

"The first is that I would like to know where you intend to go during this time, if you don't mind me asking, of course."

"It's no big deal sir, I don't mind. I'm going home, back to Menagerie."

"Ah, I see." He takes a long sip from his coffee mug. That cup is always full, somehow.

"And the other thing?"

"That you remember that absence does odd things to the heart. It may do what you intend it to. Be it good or bad, be it your heart or the one of another. Because maybe you already know the answers to the questions you're asking yourself." You feel your Faunus ears fall and wait for a few more seconds in the hanging silence.

"Well, thanks for the totally not cryptic advice. I will keep it in mind. Have a good rest of the day sir. And thank you again."

"Safe travels, Miss Belladonna."

—

Finally, you reach the end of your shift and you are carrying your backpack and keys out of the store so you can go home. As you pass the final wall of the glass building you see Jaune across the store helping some customer. And he drops their scroll on the ground and breaks it, right in front of them. Honestly. How? You shake your head and continue your journey across the sparsely filled lot.

You got a weird craving for bubble tea when you were on your lunch break today, so that is where you plan on going. Luckily, there is a tea shop less than a mile from your apartment. As you get into your car, you absentmindedly answer your ringing scroll. Your mind on the bubble tea.

"Hello?" You are greeted by a shout from the other end of the line.

"Hey! What are you doing tonight?"

"I'm going to get bubble tea and then I'm just gonna go home. I have some things I have to do and work on." The audio switches to the car system as you begin driving out of the parking lot. Naturally, Weiss keeps talking.

"Can I come with you?" Well, that's unexpected. "Or you can come here? We could hang out?"

"Are you like.. desperate or something? You never want to hang out with me anymore."

"I am not desperate. Weiss Schnee doesn't do desperate."

"Quite the alliteration there."

"Oh whatever. So, can you hang out with me or not?" You can practically hear your brain screaming no repeatedly in your head.

"I can for a little bit I guess, yeah. I'm going to bring you a bubble tea and we can hang out or whatever. I'll be at your house in like 30 minutes."

"Sounds good."

"Okay, bye."

"WAIT! Don't you need to know what I want to drink?"

"Nope."

"No?"

"You get what you get." You hear a huff on the line when you disconnect the call.


	35. Remflix and Chill

Chapter Thirty Five.

When you get to Weiss' apartment you hand her the tea you got her and find your spot on the couch. Same one as always.

"I've been waiting to watch this new show on Remflix about this girl that dies and has to relive the same day over and over again."

"Sounds fantastic." She rolls her eyes at your apathetic dismissal of her interest in the show.

"Whatever. You don't get to choose." She takes a sip of the tea you brought her. "Oh damn. This is really good. How did you know I like mangoes?"

"Because you always got mango cheesecake when we would go to Dessert Workshop." You say it matter of factly, trying to pretend like it's just a fact. Not that you cared to remember it.

She pauses, like she's taking into account what you said. It was a really long time ago. You haven't been there in so long. She sits down at her usual spot on the couch with that same old pillow and puts her tea on the end table. And she starts messing with the remote, almost like she's never used it before.

"Do you need help with that?" Watching her struggle was kind of amusing. "You have used the tv remote before, right?"

"No, I got it."

But clearly after about two minutes of this supposed 'got it,' you lunge over and snatch the remote from her and open the Remflix app on the tv within seconds.

"I could've done it if you had just given me a minute."

"Oh, I did. It was getting painful watching you struggle."

"Kiss my ass."

"I will be doing none of that. Not for free at least. That is a paid service, ma'am." She swings the pillow at you for making a suggestive joke. But she still laughs.

"Okay, can we please start watching this show or not? I was really looking forward to it."

"I guess so. Hurry up before I change my mind."

—

Before you know it, you're six episodes into an eight episode season. And you have molded yourselves back into your usual sitting arrangement of her leaning against your side while you have one leg tucked under the other and bent at the knee. This show is a true thriller. You were honestly shocked at how decent it turned out to be.

"So at the end they just walked out into the street? I don't get it. Did they just figure it out or not?"

You look down towards her with a slight look of incredulousness on your face.

"You're kidding, right?" You shift your body so that you can face her fully. It brings you a little closer to her than you wanted, but you need to make your point.

"I mean, I get that they found out where they fit into each other's stories. But did the timelines come together at the end or were they in different moments the whole time?"

"No, no, no. They save each other in their different time lines but at the end the timelines join together and the loop stops because they didn't die." At this point she sits up, pressing her palms on your knees to lift herself.

"Okay, but how did they join? Like, they just fall into step at the same moment?"

"Because that normally would've been the point where they would've died and had to start over! Were you paying attention at all?"

You pull down on your Faunus ears in frustration. She grabs your hands and starts laughing. It's a laugh that you haven't heard in so long. The kind that starts in your cheeks and you feel it radiate through your chest before it springs upwards from your diaphragm. It's infectious and you begin to laugh and you don't know why. It continues for another minute. Before you know it, you're both trying to catch your breath from laughing so hard.

You hadn't realized until now how much closer Weiss had gotten to you during your laughing fit. Her hands are resting on your shoulders, trying to steady herself. Your foreheads drift together and you rest there with your eyes closed. You keep them closed because you're almost scared to see what's there when you open them.

"Weiss?" You try to say it as quietly as you can, even though there's no need.

"Mhm?" Her response is even quieter, but you have no trouble hearing it.

"You're too close."

"Can you open your eyes?"

Hesitantly, you open your eyes after you feel her pull back slightly. You see serene blue eyes, darker than normal due to lack of light in the room. And the scar under her left eye. Before you can stop yourself you see your thumb reach up and you run it lightly beneath her left eye. Lightly, she removes her hand from your shoulder to close around the wrist of your hand that has ventured to her face.

"Like sunshine on top of the water." It's your turn to hum in acknowledgement of what she says as you carefully continue rubbing your thumb over the scar. Never taking your eyes from it.

"Weiss?" You say her name again, but it feels far away. Never taking your eyes from her face.

"Yes?"

"It's never gonna be close enough. Is it?" When your eyes finally meet hers, you can feel the sadness weighing them down. So you let them close again.

Mangoes. At first you almost don't notice. So light. Like it was never there. The next time you feel the hand leave your wrist and reach out under your ear and into your hair. When she pulls you, you lean in toward her. Meeting her somewhere in the middle.

You've kissed Weiss before. But it's never been this way. It was always short and sweet, fleeting. This wasn't that. There is more behind it. A pressure. Your skin feels like it's on fire. Weiss moves to press more of her weight against you and you lean back until your back presses firmly against the arm of the couch.

You know you're going to need to breathe soon, but at this point you are absolutely fine being suffocated as long as it was like this. Okay, maybe not, you need to breathe. So you pull back slightly and quietly gasp for air. As soon as you feel the air fill back into your lungs, you press back forward to find Weiss' lips again.

You feel the shiver reach from the base of your spine to the tips of your Faunus ears when her tongue swipes across your lower lip. Your hands have left her face and are gripping at the sides of her shirt just above her hips. Not pulling, just holding.

She shifts once again to press as close against you as she possibly can and you feel her shirt bunch up and your knuckles brush against the cold skin on her sides. And she lets out a small moan into the space between you, so you close the gap once again.

Out of no where your scroll begins to ring. It must've scared Weiss because she bites down hard on your lip. You feel the coppery taste on your tongue as you lick your lip out of habit.

"Agh." Wiping with your hand, you see a little blood but rub it on your jacket sleeve. Reaching over to the end table you grab the scroll and answer it.

"Hey Sun, what's up?"

"Nothing, it's just like after two in the morning and I thought you were coming home after work and you… never did so I was getting worried."

"Holy shit, it's after two?" You look at Weiss, who is still sitting on your lap, and she gives you the sorry but not really sorry look. "Okay well I was just hanging out with Weiss, we were watching this show on Remflix but I'm about to leave and come home. Sorry to worry you."

"Okay, it's cool. Just glad you're okay. I'll see you in a bit."

By the time you hang up with call with Sun, Weiss has already gotten off of you and the couch and is moving to clean up the cups and blankets thrown about from your evening.

"Weiss…" you stand there feeling really awkward. "Do you want to talk about you know um… that?"

"Yeah that was definitely not what I had expected to do this evening. But I think I just need time to think."

"Oh. Okay. That is completely fair. Do you want me to go?" You motion to the door behind you. "Or I should go anyways because I overstayed my welcome. I took up your entire night."

"That's perfectly okay. If I didn't want you here, I wouldn't have invited you in the first place." You help fold the blanket you used and tidy up your area of the couch. "I do have something I would like to ask you about though."

"Um okay." You turn to face her fully.

"I heard you talking to Ozpin when I walked past the office today."

"So you were eavesdropping on my conversation?" You smirk at her so she knows you aren't angry for invading your personal conversation with your boss.

"Maybe so. Stop trying to distract me with that smirk thing you do. It's causing me to lose focus. I just wanted to ask if you were really going to take some time away, like you said."

Suddenly you feel guilty. But you shouldn't. You don't have to ask Weiss for permission or inform her of your every move, if you don't want to.

"I decided that it would be best if I took some time away from.. all of… everything. I'm going back to Menagerie for a while. I'm leaving on Monday."

"That soon? It's like two days away." She looks like someone that's trying to hide their disappointment. But what your eyes can't see, your ears hear.

"Yeah I was going to wait a few weeks before I left but Ozpin said I could go Monday, so I figured the sooner the better."

"You will come back right?"

"A little ironic that you feel the need to ask, but of course I'm coming back. I live here." By now you have grabbed your bag and migrated towards the front door to excuse yourself.

"Am I going to get to see you again before you leave?" If you didn't know any better you'd say she looks worried.

"Only if you want to. Goodnight Weiss. Sleep tight."


	36. Truth Without Omission

Chapter Thirty Six.

"Hey Mom. I was just checking to make sure that you and Dad would still be able to get me from the airship station or if I need to have a car pick me up or something."

"I will definitely be there, early and waiting! I'm really happy and so excited that you're coming home for a few weeks."

"Yeah I just really need a break from work and…" you know exactly where your mind is going but you hold it in your thoughts "from other things."

"Well, no matter the reason. I'm just glad to have you home. I have a bunch of projects around the house that I could use some help with."

She keeps talking but at this point your attention span has collapsed and is venturing off to some of the small details in a piece of art on the wall of your living room. You interject the occasional yeah or uh huh to make her feel like you are still listening to what she's saying. Once you find a break in her relentless talking you jump on it.

"Mom, I know you said you will be there, but is Dad going to come with you?" You already know the answer. You just want to hear it from her.

"He's not going to be able to make it, I'm sorry. You know how busy he gets with work."

"Yea I know. Rebuilding everything from nothing." If only he had as much motivation to spend time with his family as he did trying to rebuild the island. "Okay well I should probably go finish packing and get everything taken care of here. I'll see you tomorrow night."

"Okay Blake. I'll see you tomorrow. Love you."

"Love you too, Mom."

—

It takes about four hours of organized chaos, but you finally get everything packed into your suitcase and sit it by the front door. Only thing you will have to pack tomorrow morning is your bathroom stuff like your tooth brush.

Weiss had actually asked if you wanted to go to dinner tonight. So you needed to leave the apartment in about an hour. You haven't left the apartment all day. So you had on comfortable clothes and your glasses. You rarely wear them, but your eyes have been kinda dry lately. You change your shirt. Opting for a long sleeve button up and throw a vest over it, sticking with some dark jeans and high top shoes.

_Hey I will be there on time tonight, I swear!_

The message comes in on your scroll and it makes you laugh because you already know she won't make it on time.

You take your time driving to the restaurant. You kind of drag it out longer than necessary, taking an extra lap around the shopping area when the place is. You lose track of time when one of your favorite songs comes on shuffle and end up being a few minutes late.

"Ah shit." That's the first thing that falls out of your mouth once you see that Weiss is already there, waiting on you.

When you get out of the car, you try and play off your lack of punctuality.

"Never in my life did I ever think that I would beat you getting anywhere."

"Well, there's always a first and last time for anything."

"Always so nice." She rolls her eyes and taps her foot lightly.

"Always. You want to go in? I'm super ready for spicy tuna rolls."

"You and that damn tuna." She walks through the doorway as you hold the large wooden door open for her.

"What? It's like the best thing they make here!"

—

"I always forget that you wear glasses." You look up from your scroll to see her looking at you intently.

"Well I usually only wear them when I'm at home. But I really don't wear them as often as I probably should."

"Oh well they um" her face flushes and you see pink creep across her cheeks "they look nice on you."

"Uh thanks?"

Thankfully for Weiss, the waiter shows up just in time. You don't even have to look at the menu. You knew your order when you decided to eat here. Both of you order and then drop into an awkward silence as Weiss messes with her scroll. You scratch at one of your Faunus ears. There's a cool air blowing in the restaurant and it's making your ears itchy.

"So. Tell me what Menagerie is like." She says as they place three orders of sushi on your table.

"Um…" you think of the best place to start as you separate your wooden chopsticks and rub them together in a ritual fashion. "I mean, what do you want to know? Because that would be like me saying 'oh tell me about Atlas." You wave your hands around in the way Weiss does when she speaks. And she reaches over, poking you in the hand with her chopsticks.

"Rude."

"Well you kinda have to give me a direction, or else I'm going to tell you it's a continent in south eastern Remnant that's a lot more humid than it is here. And it basically was a jungle for hundreds of years."

"But" she puts a piece of sushi in her mouth "I could also read that in a textbook somewhere."

"So ask me a question that you want to know the answer to."

You carefully dip your spicy tuna rolls into the soy sauce and eat the first piece. Your Faunus ears lay back, satisfied.

"Well, I guess tell me about your home."

"Uh, my family lives in a city called Kuo Kuana. It's a coastal city. It can get pretty busy there. It's a seaport market city. Which the market is like… the coolest place on Remnant. I used to go there when I was younger with my dad. They have everything. Food and junk from all over Remnant."

"You never talk about your dad."

"And you don't either."

"That's because my dad is a douchebag."

"So kind." She rolls her eyes at your reaction. "I used to spend a lot of time with my dad when I was little. He is the one that inspired me to study biology, although I wasn't into botany like him, and basically any kind of science in school. He is also the one that got me into reading, when I was little. We traveled a lot when I was younger because of his job. He's kind of an important dude in Menagerie these days."

You don't do a very good job of hiding your disappointment enough so that Weiss misses it. She shrinks into herself. Possibly feeling like she over stepped and caused you to be uncomfortable.

"Oh."

"No. It's okay. When I was little he did a lot of work to help stabilize and rebuild the flora and fauna of Menagerie and help it become a more hospitable place for people to live. And I guess at some point when I was about 11 or 12, that passion turned him into an activist. And the more research he does, the more he wants to change everything. Which leads him to getting more and more involved in politics, unfortunately, and less involved in him being at home. And when I do get to see him all he asks is why I'm not doing more to impact the world we all live in, and doing all I can to make it better. Disappointment gets old after a while. So I ended up leaving Menagerie with Sun for university. And I just never wanted to go back."

"Wait, is your dad's name Ghira?"

"Yes" you look at her suspiciously "why?"

"I did an analysis on some of his written work for a theoretical writing study course I took in college. He's done pretty well for himself."

"I suppose, yes."

"There were talks of him running for Chieftain of Menagerie soon."

"Gods, I hope not." A smirk swipes across her face.

"Well, if he won, what would that make you? Blake Belladonna, princess of Menagerie?"

"Don't even think about it, Schnee." You wiggle the chopsticks in her direction.

When the waiter tries to place the check on the table, you grab it before it touches the wooden top. Weiss protests loudly when the waiter returns with your credit card so you can sign the ticket. You stand up to make your way out and bow to Weiss slightly.

"It wouldn't be proper for the princess of Menagerie to make the peasant pay for her sushi. Would it?"

"I cannot stand you."

—

When you get back to your car, you lean back against the door and you just wait for something. You know Weiss didn't want to have dinner with you the night before you left for roughly three weeks, just to talk about your dad's work or the city you lived in growing up. So you figure staring her down as she mirrors your stance against her own car parked two spaces away would easily start the conversation you didn't know if you really wanted to have.

"Can I ask you one question, and you be completely honest with me? And I promise that I won't get upset or interrupt you when you answer."

"That seems like a set up, but sure." Here it comes.

"Why are you going to Menagerie?"

You want to tell her that you just need some time away from work. Or that you miss your family. But Faunus ears betray you, falling in sadness.

"There are a lot of reasons I need to go." Not a lie. "But the biggest thing is that I need to be somewhere without everyone, without you. Somewhere I can wake up from a full night's sleep. Somewhere that I can sleep without nightmares. Where I can just have no responsibilities for a little while." Weiss nods in understanding, but knows that's not the end of what you need to say. "Being here has just felt so heavy for me lately, and I don't want to lose myself to something that I will always chase but never have."

Her eyes drift to look at something farther away than the empty parking space between you.

"And if I'm completely honest with both of us right now, I don't think that I will be able to forgive myself for not telling you how I felt a very, very long time ago. I always think you know, if only I had been braver or better than I am…" This captures her gaze once again, and you can see her fighting the urge to speak. "I could've avoided a lot of heartache for both of us. But I didn't. And I have to figure out a way to deal with that. And I can't do it here, with you and whatever this is that's happening with us. Not to mention Jaune is probably the most simple minded and borderline useless person I've ever met, but he doesn't deserve to be a pawn in some twisted game that you and I play behind his back. I should feel bad for him, but I can't say that I do. And being someone that goes behind someone else's back isn't someone that I want to be."

She draws in a breath and opens her mouth to speak but you cut her off.

"And I know it's not my place to tell you how to handle your relationship, but what we've done is wrong. And it's unfair. And I can't tell you what to do, but you should tell him. Or at least make a decision about what you want to do."

"What do you mean?"

The feeling that is flooding your chest right now is the one you were trying to avoid. Like you're drowning in your own sadness. It's overwhelming.

"I mean that… what I'm trying to say is…" you can feel the tears starting to well but you fight them as hard as you can. "Being here in Vale while I try to figure out how I feel and how I'm going to deal with it, here with you, it's not possible. You have too much hold on every aspect of my life. I can't even put on shoes without thinking about you. I knew I was in love with you the night of the party at Sun's parents' house. But I could never be brave enough to tell you. And even months, hell, years later when you said you didn't feel the same way. I didn't want anyone to know that it's been absolutely killing me inside." The first tear falls, but you know you have to keep talking or else you never will. "So I tried to tell myself that it was okay. But it never was. Because no matter how hard I try not to, no matter how many times I tell myself that I don't, I will always love you, Weiss. In some form or another."

Watery trails have ingrained their way down both sides of your cheeks.

"And it's just so hard for me. Because you will never feel the same. And I know that. And I know it's not your fault."

Weiss is crying. You've never seen her cry. It's your fault that she's crying.

"I'm sorry for making you cry. I'm not trying to upset you. But I should at least be honest enough to tell you that I made a decision. We can't exist in this grey area anymore. Or else it's going to kill me. I can't do this anymore. You can't have everything, Weiss. It has to be one way or another. I'm going to Menagerie, but when I come back I won't be someone that you run to when you're bored. Or someone that you ignore without reason. You are so important to me. And you need to figure out if I'm important to you."

There are some sniffles that fill the air. Weiss is wiping the makeup from under her eyes when she asks, "Are you done?"

You just nod. You don't want to speak anymore. Your eyes are paying close attention to the ground, like you're afraid it's going to up and disappear on you. The all too familiar clicking of heels makes you look up to see serene blue before her arms envelop you in a hug. She doesn't let go and buries her forehead in the crook of your neck.

"Thank you." Not what you were excepting and your manners react faster than the rest of you.

"You're welcome."

"The world and everyone in it doesn't deserve you. You are a far better person than you would like the world to believe, Blake Belladonna."

She releases you from the hug and you instantly miss the warm of her being so close. She presses a light kiss to her cheek and your ears droop in response. She takes a few steps backwards before spinning to face her SUV, about to leave.

"May I ask you one question too? It's kinda dumb, but it's about a dream I always have."

The sadness in her expression is almost overwhelming for you, but she nods. As if to grant you one final wish before she vanishes.

"In the dream I'm always sitting on a bench and it's foggy. There's a river but I can't ever see it. But I know that the water is blue. But each time in my dream, you ask me how I know the water is blue. Does that mean anything to you?"

A light smile creeps across her face. But it falls as quickly as it appeared and she shakes her head.

"Oh okay. I just thought I'd ask."

"Message me when your flight lands so I know you're safe."

"No promises."


	37. When In Menagerie

Chapter Thirty Seven.

The air is thicker than soup. You did not miss this. When the electronic sliding doors of the air station pull apart the outside air rushes against you like a wind tunnel.

"Dear Gods, this feels atrocious."

"Blake! I can't believe you're finally home!"

You see your mom rushing across the street like a crazy woman. Her Faunus ears are larger than yours and bounce with her as she runs. You drop the handle on your bag as she squeezes you in a death grip hug.

"Oh you look the same as always. Always looking so young. I'm jealous."

"Mom, you aren't even old. What are you talking about?" You laugh at her.

"Yes I am young lady, just look at these grey hairs on my ears."

She chats your ears off in the car. Asking about work and how you and Sun are fairing in your apartment. She tells you about the gardening club she joined with some ladies from the neighborhood so that she can figure out a way to waste more of her time redesigning the yard instead of tearing up the inside of the house.

You pull out your scroll and send individual texts to Weiss and Sun, letting them know you made it safely. On Weiss' text you add "talk to you in a few weeks." Kinda of as a way to say please let me have my space. But you figure by how the last conversation you had ended, she has figured that out on her own.

As your mom pulls the car into the driveway she casually mentions "It's just going to be you and me for the next few days. Your dad is off working on some project to raise awareness for some plant called the-"

"The Grimm Lily. Don't worry Mom, I did a little homework before I came home. So that I would actually have something to talk to Dad about, if the opportunity arose."

"Now, now Blake. You know your father loves you. He is just working very hard."

"To make the world a better place for you and I to live in. I know, I know."

You wave her off as you hop out of the front seat and grab your luggage from the trunk and head inside. You head up the stairs, accompanied by the sound of your suitcase bumping each step as you go. Flopping the suitcase on your bed, you start to unpack. Might as well do it now. Even though you're exhausted. You look over to see your mom standing in the doorway holding a glass.

"I know you are probably worn out from your trip and want to get some rest, but I brought you some of your favorite tea. Iced though, because I know you always hated that it was hot as hell here."

"Thanks Mom. I think I will lay down for the night. I'm so tired. I always forget that it's about 11 hours with the layover in Anima. I should've just flown direct."

"Well you will know better for next time. Get some rest sweetie, I'll check on you later."

"Night, Mom."

—

Once all your stuff is back into it's temporarily right place, you collapse on your bed. Still

feels like it did before you left for school. Your room still looks the same, but all the little personalizations are missing. Like the picture of you and Sun at your first concert you kept on your desk. Or the books you always kept stacked on the nightstand. Before you know it, your eyelids fall and you can feel the sleep about to grab you. Right before it claims you, your scroll starts blaring on the sheets next to you.

Incoming video call from Yang. You roll over onto your stomach and swipe up on the screen to initiate the call.

"What's up Blakey Blake?"

"Nothing, got to Menagerie about two hours ago and I just finished unpacking all my crap and was about to get some sleep. What about you?"

"Just got some super interesting and exciting news and thought I should share it with you."

"Oh? Do tell."

"Guess who is coming to Menagerie in like two weeks to meet a new business partner?"

"It better be you, or else my level of interest is about to plummet."

"Yup, sure is. So if I can, I'm 100% coming to see you while I'm there. Going to try and take a few extra days, turn it into a long weekend so I can spend a day with you when I come. You can take me on a tour and show me around the jungle."

"You do know that it's not an actual jungle, right?" It's just a sometimes rainy and always humid climate with tropical plants and some weird animals."

"I know Blakey, I'm not that dense."

"Okay, because sometimes I wonder."

"Look, I gotta run and you look like total shit and it looks like you need the rest so I'll let you go. I'll message you more details once I have them."

"Sounds like a plan to me. I'll talk to you soon."

She waves and disconnects the call. Finally, time to sleep.

—

The next week and a half run through like a blur. You spent most of that time working on various outdoor projects with your mom. She wasn't kidding when she said she was trying to find a new hobby. You even went to her gardening club meeting. That was interesting.

You went to see some movies and spent a few days at the beach getting some sun. So far it's been what you were hoping for. Silent. Sun messages you every now and again just to check in but doesn't bother you. Yang messaged you to let you know when she would be arriving. You planned to meet up and go to the coastal market in a few days. You go home to Vale in a little over a week. But you haven't gotten to spend any time with your dad. He came home once and was gone before you even woke up the next morning.

"You and I will have dinner, just the two of us, before you head back to Vale. I promise."

But you've heard that before. Not the exact phrase. But the promise and sentiment are always the same.

You are resting in the little cutout in front of your bedroom window, reading some poetry. Poetry has always been your favorite thing to read because it's easier to step away from. And to come back to. You begin to feel it. The light pulling in the back of your chest. You miss Vale and all the things, and people. But you shove it back down where it came from.

You are meeting up with Yang tomorrow. Bright and early, must to Yang's disgust. So you need to go to bed. You toss the book you were reading onto the opposite side of the bed and flop down for the night.

—

Yang is enthusiastic as always. Bouncing around like a kid in a candy store. Walking from stand to stand at the market. Speaking to each vendor she encounters and asking about their business and how they've managed to maintain viable business processes. It's Yang, so she would talk to a rock if it had a smiley face painted on it.

You stop in an open air food court to have lunch. Yang gets some kind of wrap sandwich and fries. You go for a salad.

"This place really is something else. I mean there's literally everything here. Stuff from all over Remnant. It's insane."

"Yeah it can be a bit of sensory overload sometimes but I really used to love coming here when I was a kid. I think it's what inspired me to look for things beyond Menagerie in the first place, you know? Like, if this is just what's here at the market, how much more is there out there to really see?"

"Speaking of things beyond Menagerie…" She wiggles her eyebrows to insinuate exactly what you were hoping to avoid discussing on this trip.

"You know I came here so that I could separate myself from that… situation, right? And I don't know how many of the details you have managed to procure for yourself, but this was something I had to do."

"Oh, no doubt. And I heard more than enough and I'm sure it was no where near everything." You cross your arms in an attempt to shield yourself from whatever is about to come out of your own mouth next.

"I know this is going to sound terrible and insensitive, but I can't hear about her right now Yang. I hope she's doing well and that she's okay. But I can't dedicate anything else of myself to Weiss Schnee. Not right now."

"Nah, I totally get it. And I won't say anything to you in regard to what is going on in Vale. But suffice to say that things aren't the same as when you left. Even though I'm not working at Scroll anymore, I feel like I still hear about it day in and out. Things are going to be super different when you get back. But I can't really say if it's a good or bad thing."

"I will just have to see in a week then, won't I?"

"That my friend, you will. That you will. And I do have one thing to ask you."

"Is it one thing that has anything to do with Weiss?"

"Yes and no. What you choose to do with this is up to you. She just wants to know how you are doing. She asks about you, constantly." She looks at you expectantly over the rim of her cup as she takes a sip of her drink.

"You can tell her that I'm doing fine and that I will be returning to Vale next week. Just as I had originally planned, and told her."

"Will do then."

You didn't realize how much you missed your friends until you hugged Yang goodbye at the airship station. You are definitely homesick.

On the way home you receive a message from Ozpin.

_Hope you are finding everything you were searching for in Menagerie, Miss Belladonna. Your absence has been felt by the team here. Hope you are well. ~ Oz. _

You type out a quick response, rather generic and send it off to Ozpin and walk into your house.

—

"Hey Sweetheart." Your mom is in the kitchen sitting at the table reading something while the news drones on the tv in the other room. "Your dad called just a few minutes ago. He is coming home in a few days and wants you to try and be around the house so that the two of you can spend some time together before you head back to Vale."

"Oh joy."

"Don't sound so excited. He does miss you and wants to spend time with you."

"I know, he just has an odd way of showing it. For you know.. the past like ten or twelve years."

"It's just lunch. He also wants to drop you off at the airship station when you leave this Thursday."

"I guess I can figure out a way to survive. Can't believe it's been two and a half weeks already."

"I know, it makes me sad for you to leave so soon. But I know that you can't live at home with mom and dad forever."

The next few days go by too fast. Wednesday is here and you go back to Vale tomorrow. Well your flight is tomorrow. But you won't get back to Vale until early Friday morning. You are in your room in the window cutout reading, when there's a light but firm knock on your open door. You don't even need to look up from your book to know who it is.

"Hey Dad."

"Blake. Good to see you home."

Now he always sounds so formal for no reason. Politics is slowly turning him into an uptight gentleman. You miss the nerdy goofy dad from your childhood.

"Yeah I was worried I wouldn't get to see you before I left."

"Unfortunately, work kept me away for far too long. Should've been here all of last week but there were some fires in the east. Had to be handled with care."

"For sure. Stuff burning down is never a good thing."

"Okay, well tomorrow it's you and me kiddo. Be ready to leave around one and have your bag for the airship packed. We will be headed out for the day and straight to the station afterwards."

"Sounds good. I'll be ready."

"Alright, goodnight."

"Night, Dad."

—

You had packed most of your things already. That you wouldn't have to do it last minute like when you left for Menagerie. At about 12:55 you are lugging your suitcase back down the stairs. You reach the bottom and set it by the door.

"Dear Gods, this shit is heavy."

"Language, Blake."

"Sorry sir." You turn around and see your dad coming down the stairs, his long unruly black hair was sadly well tamed for the afternoon.

You miss the days when his hair was unkept and curly. You have the same golden eyes as him. But the rest of you is a spitting image of your mom. Not to mention your dad doesn't have Faunus ears. He does have a mean set of teeth and claws that could do some damage if given a reason.

"No matter. Are you ready to go?"

"Yes sir."

"Have you said goodbye to your mother? I'm sure she is waiting to give you one last bone crushing hug."

"She already did. I said bye to her before I brought my suitcase down."

"Then off we go."

He snatches your bag off the ground like it weighs nothing and heads out the front door. You follow behind, just like the child you used to be.

After a few minutes of awkward silence and the old rock station on the radio, you finally decide not to tolerate the quiet anymore.

"So where are we headed?"

"I figured we could head down to Ironwood's book store and get you some new books, and then have a late lunch on the water and see if we have time to get into some trouble before I take you to the airship station."

"Cool. Sounds good."

You spend the rest of the 20 minute car ride singing along to the old rock songs you used to listen to on all the car rides when you were little. At Ironwood's you truly turn into a kid again. This must've been how Yang felt when you guys were at the market. You immediately head over to the poetry section, which is huge. So much poetry. Modern and classics. Three walls full of collections. You start pulling potential purchases off the shelves and stacking them on a nearby table to quickly browse through to narrow down the choices.

It feels like it's only been ten minutes, maybe fifteen when you dad comes up to you at the table during your poetry selection hunger games and asks if you're ready yet. You look down at your scroll for the time. It's been over an hour.

"Oh, sorry. I didn't realize that I'd been looking for so long."

He chuckles the same deep laugh that you would hear when you forgot to come eat dinner because you got so wrapped up in your books.

"It's okay, Blake. Spending too much time reading isn't really ever a bad thing." He picks up one of your choices and scans the cover, front and back. "Poetry, huh? You only ever read poetry when you were the moody, grouchy, or overly emotional Blake that your mother was borderline terrified of."

"I wasn't that bad. And I've just been in a poetry mood lately is all. It's also always been my favorite."

"Well let's get these up to Ironwood so we can get some lunch before your flight."

"I have to pick which ones I want though. I haven't decided yet."

"How about we just get them all and that way you have enough to read for your flight?"

"Really? Okay. Thanks."

You chat with Ironwood for a few minutes while he rings up all your books and get's you a bag to put them in. Your dad talks business with him for another minute or two and then you both head out to the car.

"There is one stipulation to getting to keep all those new books."

"What exactly does that mean?" The look of total suspicion is plastered across your face at this point.

"Time to tell me what it is in Vale that made you run all the way home to Menagerie for almost a month. Because I know you well enough to know that you would never come back home unless you were running from something that you could either do nothing about or couldn't solve on your own. And seeing as how you haven't called your mother and I, I'm assuming that it has nothing to do with money, work or being able to make it on your own."

By now, you're taking your seats at the restaurant that Dad picked for lunch.

"Did you become some sort of government spy while I was gone or something?" He raises his eyebrow at you, letting you know to get on with it. "You aren't wrong. But I'm not in trouble by any means. I'm just struggling with something, with someone and I don't know what to do. So I came home. And I feel like I was searching for something here and I'm not sure I found it. Like I was looking for the answer to a question that I don't even know what it is."

"As much as I want to say that what you just said makes no sense, I'm pretty sure I have an idea of what you mean. Why don't you tell me what the deal is, and maybe I can offer some good old dad wisdom. Or really, maybe just an objective perspective."

To say that you are hesitant is an understatement. You figure that you would've been way more likely to talk to your mom about your issues with Weiss way before your dad. You have no idea how either one of them would react. You conveniently forgot to mention that you may potentially like girls just a little bit. But hey, it's not the worst thing ever by far.

"I guess I should just start at the beginning then, huh?"

"Seems like a wise choice."

And with that, you pour out everything from start to finish. You leave out a few of the more intimate details particularly the efficiency of your couch make out skills. But by the end, your heart is hurting like you never left Vale in the first place and you are starting to wonder if telling him was a mistake. He looks like he's trying to analyze samples in a lab. Or about to complete a formula to alter plant growth that he's been working on for months. It's nerve wracking.

"I know your heart feels heavy. I can see it in you when you breathe. It shows in more things than you can't see. Like your book choices. But when I look at you here and now, I also see that something is missing. Your heart may feel heavy, but from where I'm sitting it also looks like it may be emptier than you want to believe. Seeing you when you speak about her, I can see the weight lift from you and that emptiness in your heart fills. And I don't know a lot about emotions, and I certainly haven't been the best dad and husband the past decade. But I do know that what you shouldn't do is stop fighting for it, if it's something you truly want. Don't allow someone else not validating your feelings stop you from feeling. That is yours and no one can take that from you."

At this point you are shocked that he's reacting in such a positive manner, much less offering substantial, useful advice. You have already left the restaurant and are halfway to the airship station by the time he's finished his speech.

"Now, the last thing. These dreams you always have."

"They drive me crazy. Always the exact same. For months. I'm beginning to think I just get stuck on it because her eyes are blue. But I can't figure it out. I even asked her the last time I saw her if she knew what it meant."

"Do you ever ask her how she knows the sunlight is like your eyes in the dream?"

"No, but she tells me over and over that I know how we feel because I know the water is blue. It makes no sense."

"Hmm." He mulls it over in his brain until he pulls the car to a stop near the curb.

He drags your luggage from the trunk and props it up on the curb and pulls the handle up for you to wheel it into the station. He looks you dead in the face and asks you.

"How do you know that water is blue?"

"Come on Dad, you know I don't know the answer."

"Think this through Blake. It's an easy answer. How do you know that the water is blue? How do you know the color of water, regardless of whether it's in your dream?" You shake your head in frustration and let your shoulders hang down.

"I know that water is blue because I've seen it before."

"Exactly. So, in your dream she tells you that the reason you know your feeling are real is the same reason that the water is blue."

"So you're saying that I know the feelings in the dream are real because we've felt them before?"

"I would assume so. It is a logical explanation."

"Only took me months to figure out something so simple." He reaches out and encases you in a hug.

"I'm proud of you kiddo. You are living life. That is all I could ever ask for. And you may not figure all of this out today, tomorrow, or in the next decade. But you will be better for it. And sure, it may hurt like hell but I don't think you'd ever trade it for the world."

"How can you know that?"

"Because I haven't seen light in your eyes like that since you found out that I was going to let you keep a Grimm Eating Flytrap in the backyard when you were eight years old. Have a safe flight kiddo. I love you."

"I love you too, Dad."

With that, you step through the sliding doors toward your airship back to Vale.


	38. Back to Reality

Chapter Thirty Eight.

Sun was way too happy when you saw him at the airship station. Well, Sun is almost always happy. So maybe you were just worn down from over half a day of traveling. But he was willing to come get you super late at night, so you don't complain.

"So, how was our homeland? Still as hot and humid as the God of Darkness' ass crack?"

"You know it. Always has been, always will be. Definitely won't be missing that."

You can tell he knows that you're pretty tired, because he keeps the radio volume low and sinks back into his seat and lets you chill the whole ride home.

"Sorry you had to come get me so late." You say through a yawn.

"It's no big deal, I have the closing shift tomorrow so I'll be able to get plenty of sleep."

"Yeah, I took an extra day when I got back so that I could get back into the swing of things, and mentally prepare for work and stuff." And stuff, ha.

"Hopefully there won't be that much for you to get used to, work wise. We haven't had much new come through in terms of repairs. So it's the same old same old."

"I feel like that's not going to be what I have to work on getting used to. But still good to know."

When you get home you almost immediately crash into your bed and go to sleep.

—

You awake up to the sun trying to pry it's way through your eyelids as it sets across the trees outside your window. You slept the entire day away. Great. What a waste. You get up and unpack all your things and start the painstaking process of laundry.

Thankfully, your mom washed most of it before you could put it back in your suitcase. You sit down at the dining room table to enjoy some tea, and really just take in the ambiance of your apartment. It feels like you were gone for a year, but it was only three weeks. You check your scroll to look and see what your work schedule is for tomorrow. Great, first day back at work and you have the 8am shift.

You wait for Sun to come home and make dinner for you both. After you eat you fall back into your roommate routine of watching an episode of a show on Remflix that you two have been watching with two old women that pretend to hate each other but they're really best friends.

Then you decide that it's probably good for you to head to sleep for the night. You have to get up early and it's your first day back at work so you could use the rest. Jetlag is real.

—

Your first morning back is going smooth so far. Pyrrha is your repair room admin for the morning, so she's helping you get back into the swing of things. It's nice to be back at work. You missed fixing things. When the store opens, you continue doing repairs for a few more hours. It's right before 11:30am and you have your hands stuck inside of a ScrollStation desktop when you hear the repair room door unlock and a familiar voice creeps through the air.

"Hey Pyrrha, there's a customer here, he's asking how much longer until his scroll will be ready."

"Let me check, what's his name? Do you know?"

"Um he said Flynt, Flynt Coal." There is a noticeable pause and you keep your eyes trained on the computer in front of you. "Oh, hi Blake. I didn't know you were back yet."

"Uh" You finally look you to see her and it's like everything in your body freezes. "Yeah. I got back at like one in the morning yesterday and then I slept most of day and then I had to be here by eight this morning so I went to bed pretty early last night and yeah…" You are just staring at her like a damn idiot. Hands still in a computer, wearing your safety glass. Looking stupid. A small grin spreads over her face. "But you didn't need to know all that."

"Weiss, Mr. Coal's scroll will be ready in about ten minutes. I can bring it out to him as soon as it's ready. Just let me know."

"Okay. Awesome. Thank you so much." You let out the breath you didn't know you were holding. "I'm glad you made it back to Vale, Blake."

You are still looking at her like you might die if she leaves. What is wrong with you? Moron. So glad you went to Menagerie for three weeks just to crumble like dust as soon as you see her.

"I was ready to come home."

"Well, I'll see you around." With that, Weiss shut the door to the repair room, leaving you and Pyrrha in silence.

"That wasn't awkward at all, good job Blake." You hear her snickering. And you don't immediately answer, your eyes still fixated on the doorway where Weiss was just standing.

"Hey, Pyrrha?"

"Yes?"

"When did Weiss cut her hair?"

"Maybe like a week or so after you left. I'm not sure what day exactly."

"Okay."

"Are you alright?"

Pyrrha had gotten up from her chair and walked about five steps in your direction.

"You haven't moved since she came in the room."

You clear your throat, trying to shake your mind back into reality and finally bring your focus back to what you were doing.

"No. I'm fine. I'm just surprised she cut her hair is all." Pyrrha has a look on her face that lets you know that she knows you're full of shit.

"Whatever you say Blake."

"Then I will say nothing. Because usually whatever I say is what gets me into trouble."

"Fair enough." She sits back down at her desk at the far end of the room, closest to the door. "That repair you're working on is due by the end of your shift, by the way."

"I should have it done in about an hour or so."

—

The rest of your day is pretty easy going. You went out front to help a few customers get their scrolls checked in for repair and spent the in between time catching up with your co workers.

Neptune, Nora and Ren were their same old selves. Each making time to check in and say they were glad to have you back. You live with Sun, so he paid you no extra attention. Yang had left Scroll a while back to focus on her own business ventures. There was only one person that you hadn't encountered but you knew she was around here somewhere. Always bouncing off the walls.

"AH! Blake is baaaaaaack!" There she is.

"Yes Ruby, I have been here all day."

"I know. I've just been so super busy that I couldn't handle it."

"No big deal."

"So how was your trip? Was it just amazing in Menagerie? I've seen pictures online but I've never actually been there. I've always wanted to go." You laugh at her over enthusiasm.

"Calm down Ruby. It was exactly how it was when I left. But it is really a beautiful place. But Vale is my home now so I was more than ready to come back. I missed you guys."

"Well we all missed you too. Especially Weiss. It was so sad-" Someone must've stepped on Ruby's foot under the table because she yelped out in pain. "but maybe I shouldn't talk about that right now. So um, are you going to be making any more chocolate chip cookies any time soon?"

Now you're looking between all the faces surrounding the table you're standing at. Suspicious. They are all looking anywhere they can but at you.

"I honestly haven't though about it, but I can make some for you this week if you want me to."

"Oh yes please. That would be amazing." Ruby hugs you so hard your shoulders crack.

"Well, as great as it was for me to stand here with you all while you awkwardly avoid talking about something that I am completely oblivious to. It's time for me to go home for the day. Good to see you all again. Sun, I will see you later."

"Yeah um, Blake we can chat more at home if you want."

You wave him off and head towards the break room to grab your bag and keys so you can go home. If they all knew something that they were uncomfortable talking to you about, then this definitely isn't the place to have that kind of conversation. You sling your backpack over your shoulder and pull hard on the handle of the heavy wooden door. When the door swings open there is face there to meet you on the other side.

"Oh, sorry." You step to the side so that Weiss can walk past you to the break room. And ultimately so that she is out of your way so that you can pass through the store to go home.

"No, I'm sorry, I was in your way." There is a heaviness in her voice. Which is just… not Weiss.

"It's fine. I'm just leaving for the day so no big deal." You hadn't really thought about how this moment would go. You had planned on casually avoiding it for as long as possible.

"Blake-"

"It looks really good." She is taken aback by your interruption. "Your hair. It suits you well. I mean, you always look amazing. But the new hair is good. I like it."

You both keep eye contact as though the remainder of this conversation is going to be telepathic.

After about 20 seconds, she asks "Are you available to have coffee or dinner or something this week?"

Now it's your turn to look surprised. Ears swiveling, those damn ears always betraying you.

"I don't know my work schedule for the next few days. I'll have to look at it." She is noticeably disappointed. "But other than work I don't have any plans. I can message you my schedule in a little bit and we can figure out a day." She perks up.

"Sounds perfect."

You turn into the doorway, ready to leave.

"Blake?" You hate to admit that you missed that color blue.

"Yeah Weiss?"

"I'm glad you're back. I missed you."

Your ears droop as far as they can fall. But that's no where near as far as you feel your heart sink into your chest. Before you know it, Weiss disappears into the break room and the door clicks shut behind her.


	39. You, Me and Time

Chapter Thirty Nine.

The next few days drag by. You dive back into work and get back into your routine. You and Weiss decided that you would go to the cafe down the street from Scroll one day that week when you both ended shifts at the same time.

"I'm also buying your drink and there's nothing you can do about it."

"Yes ma'am."

You don't argue with her. Because you're done arguing and really you just don't feel like it today. You hold the door to the store for her on your way out.

"Thank you."

"No problem, ice queen."

"What would you like to be called? The princess of the jungle?"

"Seeing as how my dad holds no high ranking political office, Blake is fine." You give her your best fake royal bow. Receiving the typical eye roll in return.

As you reach out to grab the door handle to the cafe, it swings open quickly almost hitting you. Jaune. You forgot about him. Almost.

"Oh I'm sorry I didn't see you there." He looks up and sees it's you. "Blake. Weiss." His voice is curt, but he huffs out a breath and walks back in the direction of the Scroll store. He must've been on his break or something. Doesn't really matter to you. But it was just weird.

Weiss quickly ushers herself in and continues walking up towards the counter. So you follow without question. You both look up and stare at the menu while you wait in line. You don't know about Weiss, but you are just pretending to read it. You get the same thing every time. After a few minutes it's your turn to order and the barista looks at you both expectantly.

"Do you know what you want?" Weiss asks you.

"Yeah, I'm going to get the same thing as always." You lean forward towards the counter to begin your order but Weiss jumps in.

"Can we please have a peppermint black tea and a coffee with two shots of espresso and cream?"

The barista tells Weiss how much it is and you wander off down the line to look at the mugs and other items they have for sale on the wall. After a minute, Weiss comes to join you at the end of the counter while you wait for your drinks.

"You know, the first time you ever spoke to me was right here."

"I know, and I pretty much told you that you were being an ass to the barista."

"I'd like to think that I am less of an ass now."

"Well, I don't know about all that. But you did manage to find a less complicated coffee order." The barista places your drinks on the counter and you reach out to grab them before making your way to some chairs in the corner.

"Honestly, I changed my order because I was afraid that you thought I was a snob."

"You really changed your coffee order so that I wouldn't think less of you?"

She shrugs her shoulders as she takes a sip from her coffee cup. You watch her as she drinks. You can smell the thick and rich aroma wafting through the space between you.

"Did you have a good trip?" Faunus ears swivel to face the best direction to hear her properly.

"It was good to see my mom and dad. I hadn't seen them in a very long time. Or been back to Menagerie. It was the same, but also different. But yeah it was a good thing." You don't really want to ask this next question, but you know it's coming out of your mouth regardless. "How were things here?" She draws in a sharp breath. "I mean, the store is still standing, so Ruby and Sun didn't do too much damage while I was gone."

She laughs lightly and you hear her fingernails lightly scratching the outside of her cup.

"It was…" Her eyes squint ever so slightly in deep thought, before falling to the lid of her cup. "it was a lot more difficult than I thought it would be."

Quickly she looks up to gauge the look on your face. You try to keep it blank, but look interested enough for her to elaborate.

"When you left that night, after we had dinner, I think I sat in my car for almost two hours. It was like I was paralyzed. I couldn't even move. Eventually I started shaking because it was so cold. And then I finally went home."

You mentally tell yourself to just listen. She let you speak when you needed to. Now it's your turn to listen.

"I spent a day and a half in my room and I couldn't think about anything but what you said. My chest felt so heavy and I didn't even want to see sunlight."

In your mind you know exactly what she is describing, you've felt this for quite some time. It's what you went to Menagerie to let go of.

"After three days I didn't know what to do anymore, so I called Yang. She told me that she had video chatted with you and that she would be going out to Menagerie to see you. And it was just so difficult for me to know that I couldn't see you, I couldn't even message you. When I said that to Yang, you know what she said to me?"

"She tried to tell me, but I asked her not to."

For the first time Weiss looks at you and her eyes reflect, like they may have tears growing in them.

"She said 'it's only been three days Weiss imagine what it was like when you left Blake for three months and she didn't even know if you were ever coming back.' And I realized that I am quite possibly the worst person. I was so selfish with you. And I knew that the life I was living in that moment wasn't the life I wanted to live. And it wasn't true. You deserve something so much better than what you were ever given by me."

"That's the funny thing about deserving. You can't decide what I deserve, Weiss. I'm the one that has to decide what I deserve. And at that time, the only thing I wished I deserved was what you were willing to give me. And if I was okay accepting less than that, it is my shortcoming. Not yours."

"That still doesn't excuse how terrible I was to you."

"Maybe not, but I still allowed myself to accept it."

"As soon as Yang got me to understand it, it was like something in my mind just clicked. But the next day I told Jaune that I couldn't see him anymore. While he was in the break room. He was pretty upset, probably because I was incredibly insensitive. But I was distraught and about to cry and it just happened completely different from how I planned."

"Oh wow. You just left him there in front of everyone at work? No wonder he's pissed at you."

"Yeah well, I wasn't thinking clearly. But the objective was completed."

"Whatever works for you, I guess." You take a long drink from your tea.

"For some reason I thought that breaking up with him would help me. And it did, don't get me wrong. I don't know what I was even thinking with that in the first place. He is truly dumber than cardboard."

"You said it, not me."

"But when I wasn't at work I just kept thinking about everything. All the time. I thought about how we used to go to the Dessert Workshop every week and order the same things. And we would laugh and then we would talk for hours in the car. And I thought about how when I was gone, you always messaged me even when you knew I wouldn't ever answer. I read the letters you wrote me about 20 times. I wore the hoodie you left at my apartment every night so that I could sleep. I'd listen to music we would sing to in the car. But none of it was ever good enough."

You see the first tear fall from her eyes. And without being able to stop yourself, you get up from your seat and move to hold onto her hands. She grabs onto the front of your jacket and hides her face from the other patrons of the coffee shop.

"Let's grab your bag and we will go somewhere else that doesn't have as many people, sound okay?"

You feel her nod in agreement, sniffles continuing as you grab her purse and help her put her jacket on.

"Here, hold your coffee for me and we will go. Okay?"

She links her arm to yours and you lead the way through the outdoor shopping mall back towards the parking deck where you left your cars. You try to pick the path of least population as her head is still hanging down, most likely from the embarrassment of crying in public. By the time you make it to the top floor of the parking garage, Weiss has recuperated slightly. You decide to just sit down against the wall, that way you can sit down beside her and you can also have something to lean back against, even if it is cement.

"Better?"

"A little bit."

"You know you don't have to tell me anything you don't want to, Weiss."

"I know but I want to tell you this, I need to."

"That's okay. Just take your time. I have all the time in the world, and I actually mean that in a totally unsarcastic way." You realize you left your tea in the coffee shop, which sucks.

"You know, sitting here on the cold ground of the park deck roof crying is the best I've felt in weeks."

"Well that is slightly tragic."

"I don't know how else to describe it. I just feel okay. And it just feels so much better than anything else.

"I know what you mean. Okay feels a lot better than people give it credit for. Especially when you get used to feeling way worse than okay."

"That's exactly what I mean." You see her release a sigh and you can almost feel the weight lift off her shoulders.

"But back to where I was before I had an embarrassing meltdown in the coffee shop. I took a lot of things for granted. Especially before I went to Atlas. And when I came back I think I subconsciously knew I had been wrong but I couldn't ever admit it to myself. But I just kept going and made it worse and worse for you. And you never left me. I'm not sure why, but you never left me. I treated you so terribly for no reason at all. I was awful to you." She hangs her head down into her hands.

"I mean, awful may be a stretch. You weren't amazing by any means, most of the time. But awful is a little much."

"Well still. I left you for Atlas for three months and didn't even think about it. These last three weeks were horrible. I couldn't imagine what it was like for you when I left."

"Considering I would message you and get no response for a week at a time? Pretty trash. Ten out of ten would not recommend."

"I won't ever do that again, I promise."

"I'll hold you to it."

"Mostly because I don't ever want to do that again. I don't ever want to go back to Atlas, or have you go to Menagerie." You look sideways at her. Does she expect you to just not go home again or…? "That- that's not what I actually mean. What I mean is that- Gods why is this so difficult to figure out how to say this?"

"Take your time."

"What I'm trying to say is that when you were gone, I realized that I have made mistakes that I don't know if I can ever recover from. Or make up for. And you have no reason to accept any apology I make. These last few weeks were extremely hard for me to get through without you. And I know that it's mostly because I made it that way for us in the first place. But at the end of the day, you are what I miss."

You take an unsteady breath and slowly release it as she continues.

"It shouldn't have taken losing you to know what I was missing. But I guess it had to be that way because I'm an idiot."

"I disagree about the idiot part, but continue."

"Do you remember the day you took me to go get my car and we had sushi?" Do you remember? Only like every day, but for the sake of the moment you just nod your head.

"I think about that day a lot. I should've said something to you that day. But I was scared."

"You weren't the only one. And I tried. I drank that rice wine a little faster than I should have. Tried to motivate myself with liquid courage. But I didn't quite get there. I fell short."

"What do you mean?"

"I knew how I felt about you, sitting there watching you eat sushi like it was the last meal you were ever going to eat."

"I looked like a total fool, rice falling out of my mouth as I shoveled in as many tuna rolls as possible."

"Well, even so, I've thought a lot about that night. And each time I always come back to telling myself 'if only.' I knew sitting at that table that I was in love with a total fool with rice falling out of her mouth. And if only I had said something back then, we wouldn't be here like this right now."

Your blood goes cold and your body is on fire. You swear there's a rock in your throat. Faunus ears lift, making sure you heard her correctly.

"I felt it, but I didn't know if I really knew what I was feeling. So I tried to push it away. I tried to push you away. And I thought if I were absolutely horrid to you, that there was no way you would want to be with someone like me. But you never left me, no matter how terrible I was. And when I found out that you loved me, it broke me. I couldn't believe that it could be true. So I lied and told you that I didn't feel the same way, because I was scared. It was something I'd never felt until that point. You hold a place that nothing and no one else has come anywhere near completing. And it took me literal years to understand and accept it."

Right now your face probably looks like you've seen a ghost. Which is almost exactly what is going on. But you just keep listening, because you damn sure can't speak.

"And I know that if I had asked you to wait on me forever you would have. But I never did. I just made you wait on something that you were never sure would be there. But just because you would've waited doesn't mean you should've had to."

You look at her and hold her gaze for about fifteen seconds. She looks like she just jumped off a metaphorical bridge and is bracing herself for impact. The orange and pink light from the sun reflecting off her hair helps provide you with some kind of calming effect. It's unexpected, but welcome.

"Okay." The solitary word is quiet as it leaves your mouth.

"O-okay?" You slide closer to her so that your body is flush to hers, shoulder to shoulder.

"Yup. Okay." You reach over and grab her hand, lacing your fingers between hers and you just sit there. Everything is okay. And it feels amazing. After a few minutes seconds she leans her head against your shoulder. Accepting the fate of your intertwined fingers.

"Okay feels a lot better right now than it did five minutes ago."

"Yeah, this must be what above satisfactory okay feels like."

"You are such a dolt."

"It is what it is, Miss Schnee."

You both sit there for a while in the most comfortable silence you've ever shared. Your eyes drift closed and you listen to the breeze and the repetitive sound of Weiss' breathing. The sun continues setting behind you.

"Hey Blake?"

"Yes, Weiss?"

"Can we just stay here forever?"

"I'm not partial to the concrete surroundings, but you know that I have a hard time telling you no. So sure, we can stay here as long as you'd like."

She lifts her head from your shoulder and you huff in disappointment, only to be pleasantly surprised when she presses a kiss against your cheek just below your ear.

"When I said I'd like to stay here forever, I think I meant it in a much more metaphorical sense, because my ass is starting to hurt from sitting on the ground." You pull yourself up from the ground, looking down at Weiss.

"I do have one question for you before we leave this lovely rooftop getaway."

"Which is?" She reaches her hand out for you to help her up, but you wait until she answers.

"The next time I go to Menagerie, will you go with me?"

"Um, you basically can't go without me, I forbid it." You finally grab her hand and pull her up onto her feet, bringing her face to face with you.

She tries to lean in closer, and you know what for. But you stop her, placing your index finger across her lips.

"No ma'am. I have a prerequisite to this kiss."

"Oh? And what would that be?"

"Up until now you've snuck them, this one you have to earn."

"This is so unfair." She begins tapping one foot lightly.

"You have to do one small thing for me first. That's it."

"And what would that be?"

"Just one more question for you, and then you can start to earn back your kissing privileges." She begins to pout, which any other time would be considered cute enough to break your resolve. But not today.

"Weiss Schnee?"

"Yes, Blake Belladonna?"

"Would you go out on a date with me?"

"I will go on many dates with you."

"Really now? Don't threaten me with a good time."

"This is no meager threat, it is a full scale promise." She pokes you in the shoulder, throwing you off balance.

You grab her hand and walk her over to her car, which is only about ten steps, but far enough to make you feel slightly chivalrous.

"So, how soon can we go out on this date?"

"Wow, someone is excited, huh?"

"I feel like we, and by we I mean I, have wasted a lot of time. So now I'm trying to make up for it."

"Weiss, we have plenty of time. But I have a particular plan so it would need to be a day where we both don't have to work."

"I will call out, what day?"

"No ma'am, you will do no such thing."

"It better be soon or I may actually die."

"Well, I have waited over three years, you can wait a few more days. I will see if I can get Sun to swap a shift with me. I will work it out."

"Okay, just message me when you get home safe, and I will message you my schedule."

"No promises." She rolls her eyes at you one last time.

She opens the car door and steps inside, but not before regaining your attention one last time.

"Hey Blake?" Drawing out your response a little as you unlock the door and start to get into your own car you turn back around to her.

"Yeah?"

"I love you." Something settles in your chest, but it doesn't feel heavy or hurt. You smile.

"I love you too, Weiss. Always have. Always will."


	40. Be Kind Let's Rewind

Chapter Forty.

"Come on Weiss! We were supposed to leave like 20 minutes ago. We are going to get stuck in traffic if you don't hurry the hell up."

"I still don't understand why you can't tell me where we are going. What if I don't want to just get in the car and run off to Gods knows where with you?"

"You are more than welcome to just stay here by yourself. I can tell Sun he doesn't have to work my shift today and I'll go to work instead of spend the day with my girlfriend that I love dearly. Up to you."

You look at her with the most serious face you can manage. This is supposed to be your date day. The day she's been begging for. You've been planning this for a week. You're running behind schedule and you haven't even started the day. Finally, she emerges from her bedroom with a small bag.

"You do know that we will be home this evening, right? What's in that bag?"

"You said to make sure I had comfortable clothes, because it was a long drive, and to bring sandals. So I have a change of clothes, just in case."

"Dear Gods. Are you ready now? Can we leave, please?"

"I suppose." She sticks her nose in the air in protest. Ah, classic Weiss.

You had both previously established what Weiss liked to refer to as "The Book of Date Rules." Which was really just a few non negotiable things for the two of you to adhere to. But the most important was definitely that whoever asks for or plans the date is the one who pays. Which was perfect for you at this moment, because that meant everything that you did today was Weiss lien free. The other rule so far? Whoever doesn't drive gets to pick all the music and control the radio. Obviously, Weiss decided on that rule. About an hour and a half into the ride and a soundtrack and a half through hell on Remnant, Weiss starts the "how much longer" and "are we there yets."

"Weiss, I told you that we were going to be in the car for more than a few hours. Did you bring anything to keep yourself busy?" You catch her before she can weasel her way out of it. "Other than me?"

"I may have forgotten to bring something."

"Nothing in that magical bag of yours, huh?"

"Most likely no." She rummages through it to double check.

The two of you talked about everything and nothing. Topics of conversation ranging from workplace drama to the collection of succulent plants that Sun keeps on the patio of your apartment. Eventually, Weiss falls asleep against the window. She keeps hold of your hand, even during her nap. You keep the volume to a minimum as you continue the semi scenic drive to your destination. And you are thankful that the road trip has reached its halfway point to completion as you pull the car into a familiar gravel parking lot.

That, and you forgot that sleeping beauty over there snores like a wood saw. She stretches as she wakes up, nearly slapping you in the face with her arm.

"Did I sleep the whole time? I'm sorry. Wait, we are here right? Where ever that is." She looks out the windows, but sees nothing but an empty parking lot with mounds of gravel and sand at the edges with a worn out walkway in the middle.

"No, it's my fault for making you wake up before 9am. I can't believe how terrible that must've been for you." She slaps your shoulder as you turn off the car, making your way to grab some stuff you packed from the trunk.

"Are you ever going to be not sarcastic?"

"Would you really and truly still be able to love me if I weren't?"

"No, probably not."

"Then maybe when I'm dead, but until then? Forever sarcastic." She gets out of the car and leans on the car while she stands next to you.

"Is this really where we were going? It looks like the middle of no where."

"Well it's not the middle, geographically speaking. Come on, let's go."

You carry the bag you packed this morning that has a few large towels in it, some sunglasses and a few other things. You packed a jacket for Weiss too, because she never dresses for the weather, just for fashion. The closer you get to the walkway, the louder the sounds get. You could hear it when you were at the car, but without your Faunus ears you doubt it would be audible. Once you reach the top step of the boardwalk entrance, you reach back for Weiss' hand, which she offers to you instantly.

"Wait, are we at the beach?"

"It sure looks, smells and sounds that way."

"So rude."

"I am not being rude."

At the end of the boardwalk, you stop and take off your sandals and throw them in the bag you've been carrying. Weiss puts her hand on your shoulder to balance herself while she takes off her own shoes, handing them to you to place in the bag with your own.

"I haven't been to the beach in so long. I can't even remember. Maybe when I was about eight or nine."

As you step into the white sand, it's warm and cool at the same time, just like before.

"I know it's way too cold for swimming. But I thought we could walk down to the restaurant that is on the pier down there and then just kind of hang out here for a while." She looks at you suspiciously.

"You drove us almost five hours just to eat lunch at the pier?" You start walking in the direction of the pier and flash her a small smirk.

"Well, not entirely. I may have potential ulterior motives."

It takes about 30 minutes to make it to the pier. You put your shoes back on and head towards the restaurant at the far end. You get seated at an outdoor table and the waiter takes your drink order and rushes off. You pull the extra jacket out of the bag and hand it to Weiss across the table.

"You brought me a jacket?"

"Yeah. I knew you wouldn't bring one and I also knew it would be windy, so I came prepared."

"For a sarcastic jerk, you are rather thoughtful and sweet."

"It happens on occasion."

The waiter returns and takes your order. Weiss orders some pasta that has shrimp in it, and you go for a steak with some kind of vegetable on the side.

"What? No fish?"

"Fun fact about me, Miss Schnee, is that while I love sushi and the almighty spicy tuna roll, I don't really like seafood at all."

"You are such a weirdo."

"Thank you."

"That wasn't a compliment."

"Oh, I know."

She laughs at your reaction and the warmth that's in her voice could've melted all of Atlas. It makes you smile without being able to hold it back.

"I haven't seen you smile like that in a really long time."

"Probably because you aren't really funny." She playfully rolls her eyes. "And I think it's just because I'm ridiculously happy."

"And why is that, may I ask?"

"Probably just because you love me and you make me really happy is all."

"Well I-"

Her normally pale complexion flushes light red. Luckily for Weiss, the waiter returns with your food and as soon as you smell it, you remember how hungry you are. Weiss all but shoves a bite of her pasta down your throat so that you can try it. You let her take a few pieces of steak once you cut it. The food is actually pretty decent for the look of the place. It looks like a run down shack on the outside.

Once you finish eating, you pay the bill and head back to where you walked onto the beach. Along the pier there are some stands similar to those from the Vytal Festival. But you don't see any cotton candy, so you aren't really interested.

"Oh look Blake, they have one of those shooting games like the Vytal festival." Your mind flashes back on the mini fit of rage you endured to win that little plush cat. "You know, I still have that little cat that you won from there."

"Oh yeah?"

"Mhm, I've kept all the things you have given me."

—

About half way back to the car Weiss starts the huffing and puffing.

"I can hear you nonchalantly complaining under your breath. Would you like me to carry you?"

"I am not going to make you carry me in your arms like half a mile across the beach."

"No I don't mean carry you like a baby. I mean I would let you ride on my back. And you do remember that I have carried you places before, right?"

"I was drunk and slightly disorderly, or asleep at those times. But I'm not going to stop you from carrying me the rest of the way."

Now it's your turn to roll your eyes as you kneel down so Weiss can hop on your back. You take the first few steps and then you feel her press a quick kiss to your cheek. It makes you blush. And you don't know why, it's not like there's anyone else around. You make it the rest of the way back, stopping down closer to the water. Weiss slides down off your back, and you throw one of the towels you brought with you down so that the two of you can sit and watch the waves for a little while. When you sit down next to her, Weiss hooks her elbow with yours and intertwines your fingers. She lifts both of your hands to her lips and presses a light kiss to the back of your hand before resting her head on your shoulder.

"Why did you pick the beach?"

"Other than the sheer fact that the beach is awesome?"

"Yes, other than that, you dolt."

"Well the last time I was here the only thing missing was you. And I've thought a lot about it. The last time I was here you told me that your grandfather used to say-"

"The first person you think about when you look at the ocean is your soulmate. The person you love the most."

"And you know that I'm not sure if I believe in soulmates. But if I did, and if I had one, then it would be you. Because you are the first person I always think about, and the one I love most."

"Blake Belladonna, if you don't kiss me right now I may cry."

It's the first time you have ever initiated a kiss between the two of you. You place your free hand on the side of her face as gently as you can and rub your thumb lightly over the scar under her eye. And when your lips touch it's like an electric fire. Better than any that happened before. It wasn't light like the first and it wasn't rough and rushed like the one before this. This was intentional. It was anticipated. It was perfect.

It took you long enough to make it to this point. But you finally feel okay. And okay feels so good. If only you hadn't had to wait this long.


	41. Checkmate

Chapter Forty One.

"What am I supposed to do? How can you just leave me like this?"

"Sun, quit being dramatic. We've discussed this for months and I'm literally moving into another apartment in the same complex."

"Yes, but without me. And the plants! What am I to do?"

He collapses onto the couch with the back of his hand against his forehead. You know that he's just messing with you. That he's not actually upset.

"Would you quit being such a diva! Ruby is moving in with you next week. I'm sure you will survive."

"You're one to talk, Weiss. Or should I say, roommate thief?"

"Call me what you like, but you've lived with Blake long enough. It's someone else's turn." You can see the antagonistic glimmer in his eye as you walk past them both and into the kitchen.

"Yeah, except for Blake and I weren't shacking up in sin." Sun wiggles his eyebrows and Weiss crosses her arms in opposition.

"So what if we are?"

That catches your attention, ears perking up. Weiss is usually gravely modest and is easily embarrassed by insinuations of that nature. You peek back around the wall from the kitchen to watch what is about to happen.

"It would be perfectly acceptable for Blake and I to do… things." You lightly chuckle to yourself at the obvious discomfort in her voice. "And we've been dating almost a year now. It's 100% normal."

"Uh huh, I've heard what you consider 100% normal on a few occasions when you've stayed the night before Weiss. Trust me, I know."

This makes you laugh out loud. You can't hold it back. The color of Weiss' face is borderline crimson. If it were possible to die of embarrassment, you'd have to start making funeral arrangements. She walks over and gives you a quick kiss on the cheek and makes her move towards the door.

"I'm going to go start unpacking. I'll see you in a few minutes."

"Okay, I'm going to grab the last few boxes and I'll be done. I'll be there soon."

"See you later, ice queen." Weiss responds by showing Sun the perfectly manicured nail on her middle finger as she walks out the door. After getting the last few boxes of your things into the back of Weiss' SUV, you leave the apartment as a resident one last time.

—

You let Sun keep most of the shared furniture and decor that you bought during the years you stayed there. Taking only a few kitchen items that Sun never uses and a chair from the living room and a random table that you left against a wall.

Weiss had been really excited to go shopping with you and pick out new things for the apartment together. Which had been a very interesting experience. You had no idea how mentally draining buying a couch could be. Or how expensive it was to buy throw pillows. But you managed to find everything you needed and get all the big items moved into your new space.

This past week you had both spent it slowly moving boxes full of things from your respective old apartments into your new one. And you had just finished your last trip. You set the box down on the kitchen counter for unpacking and walk into the living room and flop down next to Weiss on the couch. Laying down, you rest the back of your head on her right thigh and look up at her.

"This is definitely not your best angle."

"Well no one said you had to look at me from that angle, you dolt." She absentmindedly runs her fingers through your hair, lightly scratching near the bottom of your Faunus ears.

"What would you like me to make for dinner? It's getting late and I'm kind of hungry."

"I don't care, surprise me." You swing your legs off the couch and make your way back to the kitchen and look through the cabinets.

"Okay, canned cat food it is."

"Why would we even have any of that?" You hear her yell from the living room.

"I swear, sometimes I think your sense of humor got lost one day and never found its way home."

You spend the next half hour cooking while you unpack the last few boxes you brought full of kitchen items. You decided to make some stir fry with chicken. Mostly because your ingredient list was rather limited. And it was something quick to make. As you add sauce into the pan you hear the light padding sound of feet on the hardwood flooring. Shortly after, Weiss hugs you from behind, resting her chin on your shoulder. Peering over to watch you cook. After you eat, Weiss cleans the dishes. That has always been the rule. If you cook, you don't have to do the dishes. So, needless to say, Weiss does a lot of cleaning dishes.

"We only have one box left to unpack. Do you want to wait until tomorrow after work or just do it now?"

"How big is the box? I'm pretty tired and I have to get to work by nine tomorrow. I have a conference call with Ozpin."

"Oh yes, now that you are the big bad lead repair technician, I forgot."

You shake your head as you help her load dishes into the dishwasher. Ozpin had literally begged you to take the position when it became available. It wasn't something that you asked for or were actively seeking. But hey, the extra money was nice.

"Eh, it's really not all it's cracked up to be. That's for sure. Mostly because half of our co workers are actual morons."

"That's the Gods honest truth. Screw it, we can unpack the box tomorrow. I'm exhausted."

—

Work the next day had been the usual boring monotonous stuff. People breaking their scrolls and thinking that they should be fixed for free. When Weiss gets home, about an hour after you, she finds you reading on the lounger in the spare bedroom that you both decided would be a library and reading room.

"Hey you. What are you reading?" She leans over and wraps her arms around your neck.

"Just some book I found when I was unpacking the other day. It's actually one of my dad's old textbooks from some class he took in college. It's boring to read but the pictures are super cool." You hold the book up so she can see it better, it's some Menagerian plant life book.

"Do you want to go ahead and unpack that last dreaded box so we can get it over it?"

"Sure, I'll go get it."

When you pick it up, you notice the box feels oddly weighted. But it's taped shut so you couldn't look inside until you cut it open.

"Well that wasn't what I expected to find in there at all. This must be yours, because it's not mine. I don't think I've ever owned one of these."

"Really, Blake? Your father is a highly intellectual individual and knowing that you love playing board games, you've honestly never owned a chess board?"

"Not that I can ever recall, no."

"Let's play."

"Wait, like right now?"

"Oh yes. And we can make a bet on who will win."

"Well since I haven't played chess in probably close to a decade, I don't think this is a fair wager." She gives you the puppy dog eyes and you can't resist. "But I have a hard time telling your stupid cute face no, so sure. Let's play."

"Okay, let's establish our wagers. What would you like if you were to win?"

"Um, how about you do all the dishes for a month?"

"That's easy, deal."

"Well? What would you like to bet for if you win."

"I want to adopt a cat." You feign shock as you clutch a hand to your chest.

"Am I not good enough?"

"Blake, don't be ridiculous. You are not a cat. And while I completely adore and love your Faunus ears, I've always wanted to have a cat. And I feel like it will be a good first step for us as like.. you know.. a big thing."

"Hmm, okay. If you win, we will go to the animal shelter this weekend and adopt a cat. Irony withstanding."

Your agreement is enough to make her lightly clap her hands together and hop up and down in her seat. Which is cute as hell and makes you smile like a fool.

"Okay, time to kick your ass at chess."

"Calm down, Schnee. It's just a game."

—

Nothing was ever just a game.

After over an hour of ruthless back and forth, things were coming to a close. And it wasn't looking good for you.

"You know how much I love you, right?" She looks you dead in your eyes and for a split second you see a look that could've been mistaken for 'I'm sorry.' But it was quickly followed by Weiss slamming her queen down onto the board into the space adjacent to your king.

"BOOM. Checkmate!"

You hate losing. But you fought a hard fight. Couldn't hurt your cause to look a little bit dejected. You let your Faunus ears hang down and glance over towards your shoes.

"Oh come on Blake."

She gets up and moves to sit on your lap, cupping her hands to your face so that she can look in your eyes.

"It's just a game." She says quietly to you.

You get her while she's off guard. Placing a quick and unexpected kiss to her lips. She kisses you back and you both easily get carried away. Hands roam to places and fingertips touch skin when they reach a little too far underneath clothes. Eventually you lose your balance and slip down onto the floor.

She quietly hums your name as you kiss down the side of her neck while sliding your free hand up her arm to lace your fingers with hers. When she tries to press against you to switch places, your legs get tangled and she ends up kicking the table next to you. The chessboard flips off the table and smacks you in the head, causing you to grunt in pain. She rubs your head in the spot the board hit as you both laugh.

"I'm so sorry, are you alright?"

"I'm fine. Maybe it's a sign that the floor between the table and the lounger may not be the best place for" you look down at the two of you, bodies squeezed together between piece of furniture "this."

Weiss huffs in disappointment. "No, I suppose not."

You find a place to get your palms down so that you can press yourself up without squashing Weiss any further. Extending your hand to her once you are upright to pull her with you. She presses her forehead to yours, just like you used to.

"Too close." She whispers into your mouth.

"But never close enough." You give her one last kiss as she smiles into your lips. "Okay, so what kind of cat are we getting?"

"You're really going to let me get one!?"

"Absolutely, a promise is a promise. And who wouldn't want one?"

She squeezes you into an intense bear bug. But eventually lower her arms to wrap around your back, just above your waist, resting her head in the crook of your neck.

"Blake Belladonna, why are you so amazing?"

"Because I love you, Weiss Schnee. Always have. Always will."


End file.
